Mask of Lies
by Kihin Ranno
Summary: An epic tale of the trials and tribulations of the lone senshi, the phantom champion of justice and the legendary Sailor V.
1. Before the Beginning

Mask of Lies  
Prologue: Before the Beginning  
1/15  
by Kihin Ranno

Dirty white-brown suds were spilling over the edge of the sink and dripping onto what had once been pristine linoleum. Hands that had not been meant for such manual labor scrubbed at plates covered in caked on grease. The owner of those arms found herself mentally swearing, admonishing herself for having let them go this long. It was hard work, and she was beginning to sweat from it. She took a deep breath and lifted her hands out of the water, shocked at how red and rough they were in appearance. She wiped them quickly on her apron stained with grease and bleach, foolishly hoping the dishwater hands would wipe off on the plaid yellow muslin. When it didn't, she actually swore aloud, unconcerned with the fact that there was a very impressionable child in the house.

In short, Aino Kaida had not been having a very good day.

It would not have been so bad were it not for her lazy husband and her rather... energetic daughter. After all, it was their fault that she was forced to wash her dishes with her own bare, formerly perfectly manicured hands. Her husband simply refused to call anyone to come fix the broken dishwasher to begin with, but he continually put off repairing it himself. And it was because of her daughter that it was broken to begin with.

The little minx had a nasty little habit of running around the house, wreaking havoc in her wake. Kaida knew the child didn't mean to break everything she touched, but what could one expect? The cherub was constantly play acting what she saw on television or what was read to her at bedtime. She would leap off the couch and crash into the glass coffee table, leaving her miraculously unharmed while the table was beyond repair. She would swing around her father's belt as if it was a whip and send the buckle flying into the TV screen in the middle of Kaida's favorite soap opera during a pivotal moment. She would run around the house, acting like she was being chased by some policemen or monsters (depending on her mood) and inevitably knock something valuable over.

As if on cue, there was a very loud crash from the direction of the hallway.

Kaida sighed, screwing up her face so that her fiery eyebrows knitted into one shaggy unibrow. She clenched her already reddened fists and counted to ten under her breath. She willed certain four letter words to remain at the back of her throat, although she longed to scream them so loudly that the gods above winced.

She stood there for a substantial amount of time before she finally grabbed a broom and dustpan with practiced motions, listening to her dull white tennis shoes squeak as she walked. Kaida moved out into the hallway, not surprised to see what had once been a crystal vase lying on the floor. Naturally, it had been a wedding gift from her mother-in-law. It had been wildly expensive and the only decent thing the woman had ever done for her son or his upper class wife.

Of course, Kaida could hardly blame a poor and bitter woman for acting as her caste and personality dictated. Even so, it had been a very nice vase and she was sad to lose it. Still, it could be worse. She could have broken that priceless antique statuette of Aphrodite emerging from the shell that had been a family heirloom for as far back as anyone could remember.

After all, she couldn't break something she'd already broken the month before while playing American football with her fair weather imaginary friend.

Tossing frizzy crimson curls over her shoulder, Kaida bent down with an elegance unnatural for a common housewife and carefully picked up the jagged pieces of the vase. She supposed she was finally going to have to cave and get rid of all of the expensive breakables. And the appliances. Actually, it seemed that the only way to keep her daughter and her household safe was to live in an inflatable house with inflatable furniture and inflatable knickknacks. That would work out perfectly until the little spitfire got it into her head to pierce her own ears (as she was bound to do) and puncture the entire structure.

Kaida resisted the temptation to throw something and swiftly disposed of the remains of the vase. Straightening, she glanced around the house with trained hazel eyes, seeking out a flash of blonde hair or the edge of the tell tale orange skirt. She listened for a giggle or a whimper of fear and heard nothing. She even stood there waiting for a rush of air to disturb her waist length ponytail, but that never came.

Then she realized she was being ridiculous and stalked forward, calling out, "Aino Minako, you had better come out this instant. That was a very expensive vase."

Kaida was greeted with silence.

She did not have the patience for this. "Minako, do you have any idea how much money you've been costing this family? Your father doesn't make much money. And you have broken just about every appliance in this house! I don't bother to put up pretty things anymore, so the shelves are bare. I only left that vase out because of how happy it makes your grandmother, and now you've made me regret that as well. Now come out here and face your punishment like a good little girl."

"No," came an indignant, muffled cry.

Kaida rolled her eyes, reckoning back to her youth when she had the patience for this sort of thing. Still, she had a mother's ears and followed the sound to the utility room at the front of the house. She couldn't help but hope that Minako was not in the process of breaking the dryer, something that had already suffered from Minako's curiosity when she decided to try and shove various and sundry items into the lint trap.

They really needed to find something to occupy that girl's time and energy.

"Minako," Kaida called, walking with assured determination into the laundry room, hoping her squeaky shoes did not ruin the effect. "This is your last warning. Come out. NOW."

There was a brief pause, and Kaida could swear she could hear Minako's shoulders slump with shame. Although, she had no idea where the girl was as the laundry room was devoid of any mischievous little pixie fluttering around on her feet. It was puzzling because Kaida was positive that she had heard Minako's voice in there.

"I can't," Minako muttered after awhile, her voice somehow echoing off the walls of... somewhere.

Kaida was supremely confused. "WhatMinako, where are you?"

"I hopped into the dryer after I broke the vase, and now I can't get out," she said in a very small voice. "Help? Please?"

The young mother who felt so much older with a child such as this pinched her forehead and took a very long, deep breath. Finally, she lifted open the top loading dryer door and fetched the tiny girl from the dryer. As she emerged, her silky blonde hair stood up on end, static electricity making Minako look like a much cuter version of the bride of Frankenstein. Of course, she was equipped with her usual disarming smiling, teeth impossibly white for a girl who was so found of sugar.

As Kaida looked down at what her mother still referred to as the little miracle, she was once again perplexed. She still didn't understand where a blonde child had come from when both of her parents sported brown eyes and there was no record of that hair color for several generations. Once, on a very bad day, Kaida had threatened to check the hospital to see if maybe the child had been switched at birth.

A normal child would have burst into tears, causing Kaida to regret her outburst. Minako had called the hospital herself to check up on the matter. This had provoked a very interesting conversation between mother and receptionist leaving Kaida too mortified to answer the phone for two weeks.

"Minako," Kaida began at last now that Minako's cheeks had grown tired and the wide grin had faded. "I just don't know what to do with you."

The future heart breaker affected a cute pout and inclined her head slightly, taking great interest in the plastic tile floor. Of course, she looked perfectly apologetic and even angelic in her own way, but Kaida knew better. Minako was always sorry, but that didn't change the fact that she would run off and live to break something else.

Kaida was just about to tell Minako to go to her room and think about what she had done while she thought of a more suitable punishment, when the door opened. Her husband walked in with his atypical wrinkled shirt, open tie, and gravy stains on his collar. He entered their home with the look of a man weary to the bone with heavy news to bear. The announcement hung on his parted lips, poised to fly into pierced or unwashed ears. However, the sight of his daughter stopped him. He was grateful for the delay.

He raised an eyebrow at Minako's gravity defying hair and looked over at Kaida with a questioning look.

Ever oblivious to the silent communication of adults, Minako wriggled out of her mother's arms and ran over to her father, wrapping her entire body around his left leg. He couldn't help but smile slightly. He shrugged at his wife and proceeded to walk around the house as if she wasn't actually there. Of course, it made the ensuing conversation between husband and wife rather difficult, but it wasn't the worst they'd had to overcome.

"Hisoka, she broke your mother's vase," Kaida said sternly, tucking her raw hands into the pockets of her apron. "She locked herself in the dryer until I pulled her out."

"Oh, so that's why she looks like she's been struck by lightning," he remarked dully as he swung his leg around awkwardly to face his wife, eliciting a shriek of delight from his daughter. "How did she break the vase?"

Kaida felt another migraine coming on and pulled out the bottle of Advil she always kept with her, unscrewing the top in preparation for what was to come. "I was afraid to ask."

Hisoka looked down at his little girl and said, "Well, Mina? Were the aliens after you again?"

Minako shook her head in an exaggerated manner, summer sky eyes sparkling with passion. "No, Papa. I was trying to catch the unicorn that got out of the forest, and he was so fast that I could barely keep up with him, and then he sprouted wings and knocked the vase over, and I tried to catch him so I could scold him, but he was still way too fast, and I thought I saw him go into the dryer so I followed him, but he must have tricked me because when I got in there, he had DISAPPEARED!"

As Kaida knocked back a pair of painkillers, she was once again amazed that the girl had managed to say that in one exceptionally long sentence.

Hisoka, the ever doting father, chuckled quietly and ruffled her slowly relaxing hair. "Maybe you'll catch him next time, sweetie."

"Don't encourage her," Kaida grumbled sternly as she walked into the kitchen to begin dinner preparations. She realized it was absurd that she had just been washing the dishes only to dirty them again, but she had never been suited for this sort of thing. "Minako, I won't put up with any more of your fairy stories. Now tell the truth. You were just pretending, weren't you?"

Again, the girl gave a vehement shake of the head and yelled at her mother's retreating back. "No! There really was a unicorn! And he"

"Okay, Mina," Hisoka intoned in a loud, disarming voice. He lifted the feather light eight year old off his leg and sat back in his favorite chair. Without any direction to do so, Minako scrambled up onto his lap, clutching at his thinning shirt and looking up at him with trademark baby blue eyes. He chuckled and ruffled her hair again, being careful not to get his watch caught in the tangles. He had done so on more than one occasion, often regretting his compliance with her mother's wishes concerning her hair.

"Papa," Minako whined, her voice jumping up an octave or two in a manner that still managed to be pleasing to the ear. "I didn't mean for the vase to break. It was an accident."

"I know, little one," Hisoka said with a sigh, leaning back into the comfort of his favorite chair, a welcome change from his uncomfortable seat at work. "But you have to understand your mother's point of view."

Minako was genuinely perplexed. "Why?"

Hisoka was taken aback by the statement, unsure of how to deal with her painfully innocent narcissism. He felt his cheeks turn a color similar to a color of lipstick his wife never wore anymore. He verbally stumbled about in order to find a suitable response to her query. Finally, he managed to com upon something that was somewhat coherent as he looked down into impossible eyes. "Well... your mother is older and wiser than you are. She only wants what's best for you. You're going to have to trust her."

The little bundle of energy he held was clearly not impressed.

"Well, Mommy should listen to me because I'm prettier," Minako insisted as she folded her arms across her chest a few years too soon.

The sound of choking could be heard from the kitchen. The temperature seemed to rise within the household, growing closer and closer to the point of eruption. Hisoka quickly decided to change the subject before Kaida and his daughter got into a row.

Since he could think of nothing else, Hisoka decided to speak on the one subject he would much rather avoid. Any joy in his manner fell as he raised his voice so that Kaida could hear him from the kitchen.

"Say... Angel," Hisoka said softly, stroking silken hair that was beginning to relax again. "Do you like it here in Tokyo?"

Again, Minako looked up at him with a bemused expression. She tilted her head to the side, tangled locks falling in front of her face. "What do you mean? I... I guess I like it. We've never lived anywhere else."

"Well..." Hisoka continued, his voice jumping up several octaves. He could feel Kaida begin to make sense of what he was saying... and her temper rising to the kind of boiling point that could mutilate him for life. "I was just wondering... How would you feel about living somewhere else?"

Minako stared up at him, her youthfully wide eyes increasing exponentially. It might have been out of shock at his implication, but it was more than likely that she still didn't understand what he was talking about. Minako was gorgeous, exuberant, and talented but she was by no means exceptionally perceptive.

"Hisoka," came a low voice that sounded as if it were coming from between the spaces of clenched teeth.

He cringed and turned slowly like someone trapped in a bad horror movie to face his wife, the little dragon. If ever a caricature were to be made of his wife, chances of it somehow involving steam spurting out of her ears and fire from her mouth were fairly good. As a matter of fact, he could have sword that he saw both of those things in that one, petrifying moment.

"Yes," he gulped. "Darling?"

"What are you trying to say?" Kaida questioned, an eyebrow that was in desperate need of attention arching towards her widow's peak.

Hisoka swallowed again and closed his eyes with a resigned sigh. He removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. After stalling all he could, he finally said it.

"I've been transferred to London."

The sentence dropped like the bomb on Nagasaki, though its destruction was not nearly as visible. Minako tumbled off his lap, her mouth agape, stunned at the news. She sat there for a long time, nursing a skinned elbow and a sore neck in pure, unbroken silence.

She had never had much in common with her mother. "Transferred to London!" Kaida shouted, her voice raking against her husband's eardrums like nails on sensitive skin. "How were you transferred to London?"

He sighed, rubbing his temples and wishing that he had the foresight to carry around painkillers like his wife did. "The company here in Tokyo is downsizing and relocating all of its employees. Most people are being sent to Osaka, but they selected a few of us to go to London."

"And they chose you!" Kaida screeched, putting all of her emphasis on the final word, an accusatory tone. "Why you? You're not their best worker! Your English is all right, but it isn't exceptionally good. And Minako hasn't even started learning it in school yet!"

Hisoka shrugged, struggling to find something to get him out of this position.

"She'll be ahead of the game then. She'll be immersed in the culture and"

"And what about me?" Kaida yelled, "Doesn't anyone think of the wives at that company of yours? Why wasn't I consulted about this?"

He sighed, becoming annoyed with all of this. He didn't have nearly enough backbone to start screaming right back at her, but he did have enough to snap every now and again. "I wasn't consulted either Kaida. I don't want to go either, but if I don't go, I'm out of the job."

Kaida clenched her fists, her knuckles changing to the color of white hot fire. "Are you at least getting a promotion? A pay raise? Something to make this easier on us?"

Hisoka nodded, albeit reluctantly for it hadn't been much. "They have already found a house for us in a prominent neighborhood. It's close to several fine schools and where I'll be working."

She didn't respond for a moment, waiting for more.

"That's it?" she asked incredulously. "That's all you're getting?"

He shrugged. "It's all they can afford."

Kaida felt like throwing something, but given the fact that her daughter had already caused quite enough damage through such impulses, she resisted. Instead, she stamped her foot just to vent the excess energy. "I can't believe this! Oh, I wish I'd listened to father sometimes, Hisoka. I should have married one of his associates instead of choosing an up and coming like yourself. Especially since you never went anywhere!"

And that was when Hisoka did get some backbone. He jumped to his feet and started shouting at his wife, the volume growing far beyond that which was normally allowed in the household. Anyone who was listening in for entertainment was sorely disappointed as their words blended and mixed together to the point where one sentence could not be distinguished from the next. In fact, it could have easily been theorized that the two spouses didn't even know what they were saying anymore.

They were so loud, in fact, that they did not hear what they had often claimed to be their precious little daughter begin to cry. The tears were quiet at first, but then they rose to almost gargantuan proportions. Still, they didn't hear her. Not even when she scrambled to her feet and ran to her room, upsetting yet another breakable in the process, though it didn't shatter this time. She slammed her door shut in a feeble attempt to drown out the noise. Then she threw herself on her bed and sobbed, clutching the pillow as if it was the pet she had never been allowed to have.

Minako cried for a long time, swearing that she would never go to that mysterious place called London. She continued vowing that up until the point that her father forcibly dragged her on to the airplane, shrieking and kicking and punching all the way.

But then, she'd always had a knack for the dramatic.

* * *

(C) Sailor Moon is property of several companies and conglomerates including but not limited to Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Bandai, Kodansha, TV Ayashi, DiC, Cloverway, and others. Absolutely no money is being made from this story, so please do not sue this penniless actress.


	2. All that Glitters Is Not Gold

Mask of Lies  
Chapter One: All that Glitters Is Not Gold  
2/15  
by Kihin Ranno

As the bright morning sunlight poured into the room through the large window, resting as if dictated by some higher being on the being sleeping all too peacefully beneath a coverlet of multicolored polka dots, Kaida found herself awestruck. She wasn't so much moved by the picturesque scene of her sleeping teenager. Nor did she marvel at how truly beautiful her child was already in spite or perhaps because of her radical deviation from the gene pool. Instead, she merely stood with rough hands on expanding hips and was positively dumbstruck at how one could sleep through a blaring alarm without even flinching.

"Minako!" Kaida shouted, striding over to the bed with hesitation. She flung the covers off of her daughter, who didn't appear to acknowledge that disturbance either. Kaida rolled her eyes and leaned down, now yelling directly into her daughter's ear. "Aino Minako, get up this very instant or I will kick you all the way back to Japan!"

At the sound of her mother's heavily accented English impacting onto her sensitive eardrums, Minako flinched and sat up. She narrowly avoided hitting the older woman right in the head with her own, but they had mastered this routine years ago. Minako rubbed her ears dramatically and whined in the same language but with a nearly perfect British accent. "Mama... Do you have to scream in my ears like that all the time? At this rate, I'll be deaf before the year is out."

Kaida flipped Minako's alarm off with practiced vehemence, glaring at her daughter, who was in the process of rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and stretching unnecessarily. "Well, maybe if you would wake up on your own once in awhile. I could always go back to dumping water on your head--"

Minako shook her head with vigor, laughing nervously at the reminder of that one time occurrence. She smiled sweetly, in a (futile) attempt to regain her mother's favor, saying, "No, that's quite all right. Who has time to dry their hair every morning?"

"Any other normal teenage girl who actually got up on time," Kaida drawled.

Minako was sorely tempted to inform her mother that she'd been speaking rhetorically, but she decided it was best not to incite the woman's full wrath so early in the morning. So she finally began to drag herself out of bed when a familiar voice could be heard from outside. It was muffled thanks to the closed window, but Minako heard it plain as day.

"Oi, Mina! Move your arse already! Let's go!"

Minako smiled and bounded out of bed as if she'd been up for hours, ignoring her mother's grumblings about the crass language her friend Lucy often employed. Minako flung her window open and waved happily at the three girls waiting at the end of the walkway. They waved back, each in their own distinct way, while Minako called down to them. "I'll be down there in a bit, guys!"

"Hurry it up!" Lucy shouted up to her again, folding her arms across her chest with a smirk. She turned to Charlotte and Rebecca, who seemed equally exasperated, and shrugged. "Guess we can't expect much from her at this point, can we?"

"After five years of this?" Charlotte voiced with a rather unbecoming laugh. "Not likely."

The girls looked back up at Minako's bedroom window, watching as clothes were thrown about in a mad tizzy to locate her uniform. Mother and daughter could be heard arguing from the street as if the girls were in the room with the Ainos.

"This room is a mess," Kaida informed her daughter. "It's always a mess, and--" She was cut off as Minako accidentally threw an old jumper in her face. "And you are not improving it!"

Minako employed just about every device she could think of to block out her mother's ranting. It wasn't working very well. She dove under the bed and whined, "I can't find my knee socks!"

"It isn't my responsibility to know where they are, Minako!"

Minako straightened to glare at her mother, realizing only too late that she was still under the bed. She emerged hissing and clutching a spectacular bump on her head. "I never said it was! Honestly..."

"Don't talk to me that way!"

"Could you not be so loud? Oh, my head..." Deciding to forgo the knee socks, Minako set to putting her blouse on, passing by the open window in nothing but her bra in spite of mother's shrieks not to give the neighborhood a peep show. Minako dug through her closet and then let out another woeful sigh. "I'm out of clean skirts again."

Kaida, still flustered by her daughter's naive exhibitionism, clenched her fist and snapped, "Well, I can't wash them if you refuse to use the clothes basket."

"I can't _find_ the basket."

"It's no wonder in this mess!"

Minako finished getting dressed in clothes off the floor and then went to her desk to retrieve her homework. She found her knee socks, but she had absolutely no idea where the math assignment had gotten off to. "Now, where did I put that notebook..."

Kaida felt very much like kicking something, but she was a grown woman. It was a fact that frustrated her nearly every morning. "Did you actually do your homework this time?" she asked dubiously.

"I was going to ask Rebecca for help," Minako explained. "I don't understand it."

Kaida threw her hands above her head in an expression of complete disgust. "This is the daughter I'm given! Messy, disorganized, unmotivated... I don't know where you got the blonde hair from, but I know where you got your personality from."

Minako winced, not wanting to hear yet another self righteous rant about the similarities between her and her father, none of which were at all redeeming in Kaida's eyes. The teenager groaned and said, "Mother, could you not talk about Daddy right now?"

Surprisingly, Kaida quieted without much of a fight. Minako briefly considered asking to stay home for she felt faint, but she decided it was best to be silently amused by her cleverness.

"You know, I still don't like that you don't go by Minako anymore," her mother voiced suddenly.

Minako did her best not to bang her head on something again, although this time it would have been voluntary.

"Mother..." she groaned.

"Well, I just wish you wouldn't dismiss your Japanese heritage so easily. I agree, that we should speak English in the house, but I don't see why you couldn't just let your friends call you Minako."

"Because," Minako began, stuffing all of the relevant books she could find in her satchel. "They have been calling me Mina since we moved here. I can't just tell them to change now."

Kaida looked as if Minako had just announced that she was planning on having a hysterectomy to ensure that her mother would never be given the gift of grandchildren. "Oh. Oh, I see. Fine. If that's what you want, fine. Never mind how you **shame** your mother."

Minako finished gathering up her things, clapped her mother on the shoulder, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Good to know you're finally over it. Ta!"

Kaida actually squawked after her daughter and took off, shouting something menacing in Japanese. Minako soon joined in and there was a veritable foreign cacophony that could be heard throughout the quaint, British neighborhood.

Rebecca looked up from where she was hurriedly looking over Charlotte's algebra notes, blowing her bangs that wanted cutting out of her eyes. "Do you suppose we should tell them how loud they are?"

Charlotte shook her head, grinning from ear to ear. "Are you mad? I wouldn't miss this to meet Jordan Knight himself!"

"You'd miss it for Joey McIntyre," Lucy pointed out with a smirk.

"That goes without saying."

Finally, Minako emerged from her home, stuffing the papers she had left untouched on the kitchen table into her satchel in a way that her teachers would surely scold her for later. Her mother thrust her lunch out at her in annoyance, calling, "If you go over to Charlotte's after school to work on your project, be sure to call Katarina! You have a tutoring session today, and she's never been over there!"

"I know, Mama!" Minako yelled back, her voice sounding pleasant while she made a face at her friends. They laughed, but Kaida never did figure out why. "I'll see you later!"

With that, the four girls departed at a brisk jog, Minako in the lead. Lucy had to grab Rebecca's arm to get her moving. The girl never was that aware when she was rushing to study.

Minako threw her arms above her head and spun around, singing out, "Freedom! I have been released into the outside world at last!"

"Look out London," Lucy drawled.

Minako turned over her shoulder with a wide grin on her face. After a moment, she blinked and cocked her head to the side inquisitively. "Lucy, don't you think you should make sure both eyes are the same color?"

The red head shrugged, rolling her skirt to make it shorter now that she was out of the watchful eyes of Minako's mother. "I ripped the other green one this morning. Besides, two different eye colours will confuse the hell out of Everard, doddering old--."

"Lucy, everything about you confuses Everard," Charlotte remarked cheerfully.

Readjusting a lock of her short gelled hair, Lucy nodded in assent. "Yes, an outspoken girl with a mind of her own would put the old man into a tizzy, wouldn't it?"

"It could also be because you're mental," Rebecca said dully, still engrossed in the Maths homework.

"There is that."

Rebecca finally snapped the notebook shut and tossed it back to Charlotte with a triumphant grin on her face. "And done! This one's in the bag!"

"Thanks to my notes," Charlotte muttered, putting the book away. "Because heaven forbid you actually do anything for yourself."

Rebecca smiled cutely and said, "Why would I do a thing like that when I can do just as well using yours?"

Charlotte shook her head and wagged her finger at Rebecca. "You just wait, Becca. One of the these days, I'm actually going to bunk off school, and then you'll fail a big algebra test because I wasn't there to take notes for you. Just wait. You'll wish you'd studied then."

Rebecca shrugged. "I'll worry about it then."

"Like Mina always says, don't cross your bridges before you burn them," Lucy put in with a smirk.

Minako suddenly realized what they were talking about, and was taken entirely off guard. She choked, nearly tripping over her own feet. She went pale and croaked, "There's an Algebra test?"

Charlotte sighed and put her arm around the panicked blonde, patting her shoulder with mock sympathy. "Don't worry, Mina. If the Dragon Lady kicks you out because you failed yet another test, I'm sure mum would be more than happy to lend you out the guest room. Of course, you'll have to move all of the boxes out yourself as we have been using it for storage, but you look like you've got some muscle on you."

Minako's lips turned down in a frown, but her eyes were alight with laughter. "I don't think I could ask for a better best friend, Charlotte," Minako drawled sarcastically.

"No, I don't think you could," Charlotte agreed, squealing when Minako gave her sudden hug.

Lucy snorted, pushing through the two girls. "Get a room you two!"

Minako blew a raspberry and bounded over to Lucy so that she was once again in front. She spun around, literally bouncing as a means of getting around.  
Naturally, she paid absolutely no attention whatsoever to the people that she nearly barreled over in the street. Miraculously, she even seemed blissfully unaware as they shouted after her, often cursing enough to even make foul mouthed Lucy take notice. She kept right on skipping, turning her back on a world that was uglier than she cared or was able to notice.

"So, Minako," Rebecca said lightly, discreetly shooting apologetic looks to all of the people they passed. "Dragon Lady seemed to be in a good mood this morning. Well, compared to yesterday that is." Rebecca couldn't help but giggle at the blatantly disrespectful nickname for Mrs. Aino that they had come up with several years before.

Charlotte nodded in agreement. "Yeah. She just tossed your lunch at you. I'd swear she was trying to clobber you a good one yesterday."

Minako shrugged, rolling her eyes at the mention of her mother. "I'm never sure what kind of mood she's in."

"It's really just different levels of angry," Charlotte said.

"Yes," Rebecca intoned sagely. "Her ways are mysterious to us all."

"And terrifying," Charlotte added with a shudder.

"I understand her all right," Lucy muttered. "The women has a rather sizeable stick permanently wedged up her arse. End of story."

Rebecca, who was arguably the most forgiving in the group (or perhaps just the one who felt the need to be nice to combat Lucy's abrasiveness), shook her head in a way that reflected a mother's gentle disapproval. She blew her mousy brown bangs out of her eyes again and said, "She's not all bad."

Charlotte snickered and added, "Yeah, she hasn't kicked Mina out yet this month. The fact that the month just started yesterday is totally irrelevant."

"She isn't withholding food," Lucy put in sarcastically. "And she hasn't thrown anything that could give Mina a concussion or a nasty case of sudden death."

"And she only set me on fire that one time!" Minako chirped merrily. Her friends blinked in surprise, temporarily scandalized until the blonde's grin widened. She giggled, breaking the tension. "Just kidding!"

"Or is she?" Lucy uttered ominously.

Rebecca swatted Lucy playfully. Lucy, famous throughout the school and the borough for her temper, feigned being angry at the smaller girl and began yelling at her, barely containing her laughter. Charlotte soon joined in on the mock fight, switching sides periodically just to make things interesting. The bell rang for school to begin just as they were rounding the bend. There was a moment where they were frozen in place, staring at each other in mute horror...

Until they all simultaneously screamed and took off running, Minako in the lead.

"This is all your fault Mina!" Lucy snapped, not really meaning it. "If you weren't always so bloody late--"

"It's not my fault! It's the Dragon Lady!" Minako insisted as she ran through the gates, trying not to laugh as her friends continued to hurl insults at her back.  
So frenzied were they to get to class, that they did not notice the white tomcat they nearly trampled. He glared after them for a moment, before noticing something that a mere human would never be able to comprehend. He tilted his head to the side, crescent marking glittering in the Autumn sunshine.

-----

Lunch couldn't come soon enough for the four girls, particularly since Minako was convinced that she'd flunked the Maths exam. The group sat down at their usual spot, their blonde companion sighing dramatically and swooning onto Charlotte's shoulder.

"It's the end for me," Minako proclaimed. "The minute the Dragon Lady sees that test, she'll string me up for sure."

Rebecca patted Minako's head sympathetically. "You don't know if you did badly or not."

"Yes, she does," Lucy proclaimed as she reached over and grabbed some chips from a passing sixth year. "I glanced over at her test at the end of the hour. She hadn't even turned it over."

Rebecca flinched and then turned to Minako, saying, "Nice knowing you then."

Minako glared at Rebecca, not at all amused by the girl's attempt at humor. Lucy had told her on numerous occasions that she just wasn't a funny person, but Rebecca just kept trying. Normally, Minako would have applauded her determination. In this case, she wished Rebecca would just accept it.

Minako muttered miserably, "Thank you so much for your words of encouragement."

Rebecca smiled sheepishly and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Lucy took the opportunity to steal the apple she had left unattended, biting into it loudly.

Charlotte sat Minako up properly and began eating her food before Lucy could get her hands on it as well. The girl never brought a lunch, but she always managed to get fed. She smiled and said, "Let's not talk about the Maths exam anymore."

"Yes!" Minako exclaimed, jumping to her feet and pumping her fist into the air jubilantly, attracting much attention as result.

"Let's talk about Oliver instead," Charlotte quipped.

Minako plopped back down in her seat and slumped to the point that her forehead hit the wooden table painfully. "No..."

Lucy rolled her eyes, tossing the apple core over her shoulder with no regard for a trash receptacle. "Yes, please! Let us talk about dear, wonderful, handsome, older, insufferable Oliver Howell and his oh-so-obvious crush on Mina. As if I haven't wasted enough of my life listening to this rubbish."

Charlotte tossed a wadded up paper napkin at Lucy, missing her face and bouncing it off her spiky hair do. "Really Lucy, must you always be so disagreeable?"

"Yes," Lucy said with a grin.

"I don't want to talk about Oliver," Minako announced before anyone else could say anything on the matter. She looked over to where he was sitting, lounging around with his fellow football players, who were akin to gods at the school. She had noticed some time ago that when Oliver wasn't ensuring that his hair was absolutely perfect, he was glancing over in her direction. It hadn't taken a genius to figure out that there was only one thing that could distract Oliver from the love of himself.

"I don't like him," Minako continued, raising her voice in hopes of him hearing.He didn't naturally, far too busy talking with his friends about how great he was.

"You flirt with him," Charlotte pointed out, winking.

Minako shrugged cutely. "It's something to do."

"Well, it's good to know you have a firm set of values," Lucy said with a snort.

Minako stuck her tongue out at Lucy. "As long as he likes me, no one else is going to even think about coming near me. So, I may as well make the best of it.  
Besides, he is cute."

"If you like that Grecian god look," Charlotte added wistfully, laying a hand on her heart. "He's so rippley."

"He's also a git," Lucy reminded them, her tone harsh just in case Minako forgot about that part and decided to pursue him anyway.

"Yes, there's that," Minako said, nodding in assent. Then she straightened up, finally breaking into her supply of food. She smiled conspiratorially and continued in a very sneaky tone of voice. "Anyway, Oliver doesn't matter to me in the slightest. I will have you know that I like... someone else."

Charlotte gasped, nearly choking on her drink. Lucy sighed, resigning herself to yet another discussion on Minako Aino's nonexistent and yet incredibly active love life. Rebecca had tuned out of the conversation some time ago.

"Who!" Charlotte squealed, all but bouncing up and down in her seat. "Who is it?  
Tell, tell!"

Lucy shrugged. "What the hell? I am minimally interested in a completely ambivalent sort of way. Who is the boy behind the demeaning label of First Love Number 784, Mina?"

Minako leaned forward, her eyes sparkling like crystals beneath a clear river. She was smiling brightly, the name on the tip of her tongue. However, one look into Charlotte's sparkling grey eyes and she relented, blushing furiously. "I can't."

"Oh, Mina!" Charlotte whined, stamping her foot beneath the table. "You can't just lead me on like that!"

"Charlotte's been waiting for you to confess your undying love for her for years, Mina!" Lucy added, ducking as the dark haired girl swung at her.

Minako giggled at the two of them and then said, "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Of course!" Charlotte chirped.

Minako didn't bother to wait for Lucy's answer. She only flushed a deeper crimson, dropping her voice to a whisper and averting her eyes from both of her friends. "Your brother."

"ALAN!"

Charlotte made a loud noise of protest, actually pretending to gag. After all, that wasn't the sort of thing one wanted to hear about a boy who you'd spent your entire life loathing. Lucy, naturally, found the display quite amusing and said as much.

By this point, Minako was beet red and did her best to quiet Charlotte down. "Shush! I don't want the whole world to know!" She paused for a minute and then added, "Except for maybe Oliver."

Lucy shook her head. "That would only encourage him."

Charlotte let out one more exaggerated retch and then leaned forward so that she was merely inches from Minako's face. "You like my brother? God, Mina, that's so... ridiculously wrong on so many levels. I mean, once you get past the six year age difference--"

"She's getting better," Lucy pointed out. "The last One True Love was pushing forty."

"--he's just sits around the house and broods!" Charlotte lamented, pretending not to notice Lucy at the moment. "Or he works at that crappy job at the restaurant. But basically he broods and takes trips to the toilet."

Minako sighed dreamily, her eyes sparkling as she looked at something much farther away than where they were. "He just needs the right girl to make him happy."

Charlotte was about to embark on yet another gagging spree, when she thought better of it. Instead, she thought back on anything her brother had ever said about the girl. After a few moments, she said, "Come to think of it, he did say that he thought you were cute. And funny."

Of course, she was taking those comments entirely out of context, but that didn't seem to occur to Minako as she quite literally swooned, falling into Charlotte's lap again.

"You really have a thing for the Darlings, Aino," Lucy observed.

Charlotte seemed to regret giving Minako any encouragement and quickly tried to amend it. "Oh, but... Mina, if you start fancying my brother, how am I supposed to snag anyone?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Lucy asked.

Charlotte glared in her direction and snapped, "You wouldn't understand, Lucy."

"Relax, Lucy," Minako said dreamily, lifting her hand and waving it in the redhead's general direction. "She's just kidding."

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "Is she now?"

A few seconds later, the bell rang. Minako recovered from her revelation instantly, pulling Charlotte to her feet. Minako began chattering about various and sundry ways to get Minako and Alan together, deciding that she would indeed pay a visit to the Darlings that afternoon. Lucy scoffed as the passed,  
rousing Rebecca from the thoughts that had so consumed her for he majority of lunch. She tore her eyes away from Oliver Howell's usual table, plastered a smile on her face, and proceeded to clean up the mess that Charlotte and Minako had left behind.

-----

"I'm home!" Charlotte sang out, flinging the door to the Darling's sizeable flat open. She stepped into the room, pulling Minako in after her. They dumped all of their things in the foyer. Minako had to stop herself from kicking off her shoes, an old habit that sometimes resurfaced at the oddest of times. Knowing the reason for Minako's hesitation, Charlotte scoffed at the blonde and continued pulling her inside.

"Anybody here?" Charlotte shouted, looking genuinely confused. After all, while both of Darling parents worked (her father as a teacher, her mother as a nurse, Alan was always home when he wasn't working at the restaurant. She was about to apologize to a steadily drooping Minako, when Alan's friendly baritone voice wafted into the room.

"I'm in the shower!" he called out, at last bringing attention to the fact the water was running in the other room.

Minako's blue eyes lit up mischievously. She grinned at her friend evilly and began to tip toe towards the bathroom door. Charlotte promptly pelted her with a pillow, looking positively sickened by the very idea.

"Mina's here!" Charlotte yelled as she made her way to the kitchen. "So don't go parading around in just your towel like you usually do."

Minako swatted at her as she passed, genuinely upset. She scowled and hissed, "Now what did you go and say that for?"

Charlotte flipped her ponytail at Minako haughtily and made her way to the kitchen. She'd informed Minako that she had to make a few batches of shortbread for her mother's patients anyway, which would surely give her plenty of time alone with Alan. As promised, Charlotte flipped on the radio upon entering, singing along to the latest pop hit loudly and horrendously off-key.

Minako flinched and muttered, "Charlotte, I love you dearly, but there is a reason why Lucy goes into convulsions when you try to sing..." However, the blonde knew better than to tell Charlotte that she was bad at anything, so she kept the comment to herself. Instead she fell back on to the couch and grabbed the phone on the end table. She quickly dialed her mother and told her she was at the Darlings.

The phone call wasn't nearly as brief as Minako would have preferred as Kaida informed her that she had found some overdue homework of Minako's buried beneath the piles of clothing. Minako attempted to calm her down by assuring her that it was all from the year before, but that only seemed to make matters worse. She finally just hung up on the woman and proceeded to call Katarina who had been planning to pick her up at her own home. Minako quickly rattled off some directions, repeating them three times for Katarina's benefit and accidentally changing them each time.

She hung up the phone and looked up just as Alan walked into the living room. He didn't see her at first, so Minako was thusly free to gaze at the vision he made with some of heaven's brightest stars in her eyes. Alan was quite tall and lanky, but not to the point where Minako thought hugging him would be far too much like hugging a skeleton. He wasn't especially muscular, his sister being the athlete in the family, but he was in reasonable shape. He was slightly tan, a phenomenon that couldn't explained given that Londoners weren't exactly known for their bronze skin tones. He had blue eyes that Minako was perfectly content to look into, admire, and expound upon in written verse until she got writer's cramp. Or sufficiently bored, which would be instantly. He had long, but perfectly coifed hair that was normally a lighter shade of black that almost looked like a deep charcoal. However, as his hair was still wet and dripping from coming out of the shower, it was blacker than an endless new moon midnight.

In short, he was perfection.

And in a different way that those 783 other true loves were.

"Hi, Alan!" Minako chirped brightly, finally drawing his attention to the fact that she was sitting there. Of course, she was quite confused as to how he hadn't noticed, but that was a thing to scold him about after they'd been dating for awhile.

He turned to her, quite surprised by her presence. He smiled at her warmly, effecting an aura of serenity that boys Minako's age just didn't (and probably wouldn't) grasp. He pulled on the towel he had swung over his shoulders to protect his shirt and said, "Sorry, Mina. Didn't see you there."

Minako shrugged, still smiling so widely that her cheeks were already beginning to ache. "It happens."

It didn't ever happen, in all honesty, but she wasn't about to tell him that.

Either because he didn't have anything better to do or because he was drawn to Minako as every other male within a twenty mile radius, Alan sat down next to her, putting his feet up on the coffee table in front of them. She filed the experience away in her memory as one of the most important events leading up to their future relationship.

"What's Lottie up to?" Alan questioned, continuing to towel off his saturated hair.

In spite of the fact that Charlotte probably couldn't hear the majority of what was going on her living room, she had long ago fine tuned her ears so that she could hear the abhorred childhood nickname were it ever uttered in her presence. Her voice took on a positively grating quality as she screeched, "Don't call me that!"

Alan and Minako flinched, but neither chose to respond.

"She's baking biscuits for your mum's patients," Minako explained. She leaned forward, batting her naturally full and dark lashes in as alluring a manner as possible. "So, it must be great having a mum who encourages her children to do charitable works, huh?"

"Yeah, it's great," Alan said, eyes darting back and forth uncomfortably. "Mina, is there something in your eye?"

Minako's left eyebrow twitched.

She was about to continue in her boyfriend catching venture, when she saw something white move in her peripheral vision. Suspicious for reasons she couldn't explain, Minako's head turned to see whatever it was. She was quite surprised to see a white cat calmly walking into the living room. He paused to stretch, shutting his leaf green eyes as he extended his two front feet, digging his claws into the well worn carpet. Then he hopped up onto the couch and settled in on Alan's lap, making himself quite comfortable before he began to take a much needed nap.

It was the first and hopefully last time that Minako would ever be jealous of a feline.

"Oh, a cat," Minako said, not so much excited as perplexed. She looked up at Alan, a questioning look on her face. "I thought Charlotte didn't like cats."

Alan smiled ruefully. "Funny, when I think of Charlotte's feelings towards cats, the words hate, detest, and loathe come to mind..."

Minako giggled even though it wasn't all that funny.

Alan nodded, scratching the cat behind his ears. He raised his head, purring shamelessly. He hadn't noticed Minako as of yet, and he wasn't about to now that he was in a form of kitty heaven. "I pick up Charlotte from school a lot, and this bloke was always hanging around. One day he just hopped into the car when she got in. We didn't even notice until we got home. I've been holding on to him, hoping to find the owner, but no luck yet. It's funny. I'd think a cat with a crescent moon bald spot would be one of a kind."

"Bald spot?" Minako asked, now genuinely interested. She scooped the slumbering cat up from her soon-to-be-beau's lap roughly, eliciting an irritated yowl. She spun it around, and was quite surprised to find that there was indeed a crescent moon stamped on its forehead. She was so shocked by this revelation that she did not notice as the cat went rigid. "Wow, that's amazing! But it looks more like a tattoo than a bald spot. Oh, who would be cruel enough to tattoo a poor, innocent kitty?"

The cat was staring at Minako with impossibly wide eyes, its entire body stiff as a board in the dead of winter. After a few seconds, it began trembling in her hands, looking surprised and perhaps fearful. Unsure of what else to do, Minako released it. The cat went tumbling off the couch and sprinted out of the room. Alan winced at the sound of his back claws tearing into the carpet.

Minako stared after the cat for a moment and then turned back to Alan, blushing slightly. "Sorry... I guess I'm not a cat person."

Alan chuckled, smiling in a way that made Minako momentarily lightheaded. "It's all right."

Just then, Charlotte wandered back into the room, dusting a layer of flour off her grey skirt. She shot Minako an apologetic smile before turning to her brother.  
"Do me a favor. Take the biscuits out of the oven when the timer dings. And dad told me to tell you to fix the dishwasher when you had a chance."

Alan rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the couch, bowing to Charlotte as he went. "As you wish, Madame." He looked over his shoulder for a moment, waving at Minako as he left to presumably get the necessary tools needed for the task. "See you around, Mina."

Though she had a hard time getting her hand to work her bones felt rather like jelly at that moment, Minako managed to wave back. "Bye, Alan."

The blonde stared after the retreating back of the older boy until he had disappeared from view. Even then, she didn't stop waving, her mind having left the apartment a short time earlier. It wasn't until Charlotte reached over and gently tugged on Minako's hair that the girl became fully oriented again.

"So," Charlotte whispered as extra insurance that Alan wouldn't hear them. "Anything you want to tell me?"

Minako let out a dramatic sigh, clutched her heart and collapsed onto the couch. She didn't feel that needed any verbal explanation.

Meanwhile, that same white tomcat peered at them from around the corner. He stood stock still aside from the occasional shiver, an after shock from just a few minutes before. He narrowed his eyes, looking as pensive as any cat could, watching in silence and wondering if he could finally bring his lifelong search to an end.

-----

For the next few hours, Minako and Charlotte lounged about in her room, abandoning all thoughts of obtaining the perfect boyfriend in favor of more important considerations. After all, they were in their seventh year. They would both be up for the chance to be captain of the volleyball team next year. As the captain was picked by the team, they had to decide just how to go about a subtle campaign. Of course, they were in competition once again, but Minako hadn't let that bother her since they were eight.

They also discussed Lucy's latest audition, which was the reason why she hadn't come with them that day. She was trying out for a television commercial, but neither of them thought that she would get it if an interview was involved. They also talked about Rebecca's strange behavior. Not that out of the ordinary mannerisms was something new to the group, it just seemed as if Rebecca was getting weirder and weirder with each passing day. Then Charlotte once again brought Oliver up, hypothesizing that Minako could in fact maintain a relationship with the boy if she never actually had a conversation with him. That had quickly deteriorated into a pillow fight, which was not an entirely uncommon occurrence. In fact, they managed to talk about nearly everything except for their literature project due the next day.

It was around the time when Charlotte had chucked a book at her head that the doorbell rang. Glancing at the clock, Minako squeaked and dashed over to the mirror, fixing herself up.

Charlotte eyed her curiously. "What on Earth are you doing? Katarina doesn't care what you look like."

Minako rolled her eyes and spoke to Charlotte as if she were a child who didn't grasp the concept of one plus one. "No, but Alan does."

Charlotte grunted irritably and climbed off the bed as the doorbell rang again. She stuck her head out the door and shouted, "Alan, could you get that!"

After a beat, Alan's irritated voice wafted through the flat, giving Minako pause in her hurried preparations to marvel at the magnificence of his voice. "Do you want the dishwasher to work properly or do you want me to answer the door?"

"I want you to stop being a prat and do what I tell you!"

Some cursing followed, but it was hardly anything off putting. After all, just because Alan was the perfect male specimen didn't mean that he couldn't swear every now and again. Besides, that made him seem more rugged and all the more appealing.

Minako found herself sighing dreamily as she combed through her hair with her fingers. "Isn't he wonderful?"

"Have I ever mentioned that I don't like people who fixate?" Charlotte voiced tersely.

Minako paid no attention to her tone, waving her off with one hand as she gathered up her things. "Oh, you. Can I call you later tonight?"

"No," Charlotte answered, offering no further explanation.

Minako shrugged. "Right then. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"I'll be waiting at your front gate as usual," Charlotte assured her. "Bye."

"Ta!" With that, Minako flounced out of the room, making her way into the living room and the modest foyer. She got there just as Alan was opening the door, but paused to steal a few biscuits from the kitchen, overhearing their conversation.

"Minako, are you-- Oh! Hello." Katarina, a woman of twenty-five who oftentimes acted more like a woman of forty-five, apparently hadn't heard of the presence of a male in the home. Minako had told her several times, but the woman had a tendency to overlook important things like boyfriends, love, and mascara.

"Umm... Hello. You're here to get Mina?" Sadly, Alan did not possess her social grace. Minako decided that would be her first project once they began dating. He seemed to be taking stock of Katarina's appearance, which, while good enough, could have been much better. Katarina didn't do much to her straight reddish-brown hair, letting it fall about her shoulders smartly. In fact, just about every facet of Katarina could be described as smartly. Even on a casual outing with Minako, she was dressed in olive green trousers with matching jacket. Minako sincerely doubted the woman owned anything that didn't look as if it could be passed off as a suit.

"Yes, I am actually," Katarina said, looking a little past Alan to get a quick view of the apartment, "Is she ready?"

"Yup!" Minako called out, taking a bite out of one of the treats and swallowing it whole. She moved over to the door, rubbing her throat as Alan and Katarina simultaneously turned to look at her. "I'm ready to go whenever you are."

"Excellent," Katarina noted, glancing back over to Alan.

Minako giggled, realizing she'd forgotten herself. "Of course, you two have never met, have you? You would think two of my favorite people would have crossed paths before now. Alan, this is Katarina, my tutor and an officer with Interpol. Katarina, this is Alan, Charlotte's older brother and all around amazing guy."

Alan ignored her praises, awkwardly sticking out his hand to shake Katarina's. He seemed surprised by the firmness of her grip, but said nothing on the matter.  
Without waiting another moment, Minako linked arms with Katarina and began to drag her towards the street, already prattling on about little inconsequential things that had happened to her that day.

Katarina looked over her shoulder and called out, "Well, it was nice meeting you!"

"Uh... Right! You too!" Alan waved lamely as an afterthought. He realized several minutes later that he was still standing at the open doorway, and quickly retreated inside as Charlotte barked out a few more orders. He never noticed a little something zip through his legs and follow after the pair.

-----

"So," Katarina instructed, tapping her pencil on the appropriate variables when necessary. "If 4x+7y is 0, and y is equal to 2, then x equals..."

"Alan," Minako breathed absently, gazing up at one of the clouds that reminded her rather of Alan even though any right minded person would have said it was an elephant.

Katarina smiled, vaguely amused and trying to ignore the impulse to rub her temples. "No, Minako. The answer is not Alan. The answer to the last seven problems has not been Alan, though I admire your attempts at making it so. Really. But could you please focus on the task at hand?"

Minako regarded Katarina as a foreign object, studying her as intensely as she should have studied her Maths. She tilted her head to the side and asked,  
"Katarina, have you ever had a boyfriend?"

The brunette closed Minako's texts, deciding that it was time to give up on the lesson for the day. Once Minako got off track, there was simply no hope in getting her back on. "Minako, that isn't the--"

"NO?" Minako gasped, her jaw unhinging several feet. "I mean, I know you haven't mentioned having one in the five years I've known you, but you've honestly never had one ever in your whole entire life?"

Katarina seemed mildly exasperated, but indulged Minako as always. They had indeed known each other for five years. When Katarina was studying at the university, she had signed up for a tutoring program to help foreign students become adjusted to British life. She had been assigned to Minako and had been charmed by her instantly. She still tutored Minako in what spare time she had, treating the Ainos as something of a surrogate family, albeit they were hardly close due to the obvious cultural restraints.

"Minako, I've never really been interested in--"

"NEVER been INTERESTED?" Minako treated this news as most people would treat hearing about a war being declared. "How could you have never been interested? You mean you haven't ever liked some boy?"

At this, Katarina paused. "Well, maybe I've been interested, but certainly not in anyone who would be willing to date me."

Minako was clearly perplexed. "Why not?"

Now, Katarina did rub her temples. This was not her favorite subject. She got enough of this from her mother. "Minako, you wouldn't understand this, but for most women, there are such things as 'levels' and 'leagues,' and--"

"Are you saying they haven't thought you were good enough for them?" Minako cried, outraged. Whoever had affronted her big sister in such a manner was surely going to have hell to pay if she ever got her hands on them.

Katarina waved about in an attempt to calm the girl down. Granted, she'd learned not to take Minako to a library years ago, preferring instead to study outside in the park, but that didn't change the fact that they were attracting attention. "Well, it wasn't as if they were aware or any--"

"How dare they!" Minako proclaimed, ignoring anything Katarina had said. "How dare they not see how absolutely wonderful you are!"

Katarina demurred to Minako's rather loud compliment. "Thank you, but--"

"That's it, I have a new mission," Minako announced, standing up on the bench, affecting what Minako was sure Joan of Ark would have looked like when she landed on Plymouth Rock.

"Oh dear," Katarina muttered.

"Now hear this London!" Minako shouted, holding one hand aloft and pointing the sky. "I have found my purpose in life! Just as soon as I have Alan in my thrall--"

Katarina snorted quietly.

"--I will find Katarina, my dear big sister a boyfriend! Because every girl needs a man to love her and treat her like a princess! I shall not rest until this mission has been fulfilled as sure as my name is-- Oh! Kitty!"

Crusade forgotten, Minako popped off the bench, leaving her audience feeling as if they wanted their money back. One young man of a questionable character continued to watch them for awhile until Katarina gave him a hard look. He quickly went about his business, glancing over his shoulder as he turned the corner.

Minako crouched down beside the white cat with the moon tattoo on his forehead. He was looking at her the same way Rebecca reread her poetry - intensely searching for imperfections and assessing it as a whole. Naturally, Minako mimicked his expression, taking him by surprise. She reached out and scratched behind his ears, and then he was far too concerned with purring to stare at her.

"Minako, you really shouldn't go around petting strays," Katarina cautioned, still looking at the sidewalk in case the boy made another appearance.

"He isn't a stray. We're old friends." Minako then went off into an unnecessarily detailed story about how the cat was Alan's, sometimes segueing into just how long the train on her wedding dress would be and whether or not it was appropriate to name her first child after herself.

When Katarina was finished marveling at Minako's lack of coherent story-telling ability, she glanced down at her watch. "Oh, dear. You're going to be late for dinner again at this rate."

Minako shrugged, standing up with the cat in her arms. He didn't seem to mind this time, although he fidgeted a bit to find a more comfortable position. "Dad has a business dinner tonight, so I was going to have to fend for myself anyway."

"Do you know where the fire extinguisher is?"

Minako blew a raspberry. "That only happened that one time, and I found it eventually."

"How much smoke damage was there again?"

"...Shush."

Katarina laughed, gathering up her things and eyeing the cat once again. "You know, we won't have time to run him back to the Darlings if you hope to make it anywhere near your curfew."

Minako frowned slightly, looking down at the feline. After a moment, she shrugged and said, "I'll just walk him back tomorrow after school. Mum and Dad will never see him if I keep him locked up in my room."

Katarina then launched into a monologue of how that really wasn't practical, even if it was only for a day that lasted for the entire drive home. Artemis, for his part, remained comfortably settled on her lap, purring loudly enough for three cats.

By the time they made it to Minako's home, the Ainos' car was gone. It was just as well because that meant that Minako wouldn't have to hide the cat in her backpack, an idea that he hadn't seemed to keen on. Minako bade a quick good bye to Katarina and then made her way to her front door. After searching through her bag for her house key for a full ten minutes, she waved Katarina off, but the woman still didn't drive away until Minako was back inside her abode and switched the light on, latching the door behind her.

"Now then," Minako instructed briskly, allowing the cat to hop out of her arms to the floor. Much to her surprise, he dutifully sat down before venturing off to explore, looking up at her with an expression that looked as he were engaged. "Here's the thing, Fuzzy. My mother insists that the house remain perpetually spotless, and she will torture me if she finds so much as a tuft of cat hair. Therefore, you cannot rub up on anything, you cannot break anything, and you really cannot have any accidents. Follow these simple rules, and you'll be returned to Alan unharmed. Are we clear?"

She could have sworn the cat actually nodded before it trundled off about its business.

Minako stared after it. "Strange cat."

With that in mind, Minako dumped all of her books onto the kitchen table (she had absolutely no intention of doing any homework, but she would work painstakingly so that it actually looked like she had) and prepared dinner. Thankfully, some higher power had invented the microwave dinner, so the fire department was not involved in her evening this time. She fed Artemis a few table scraps when he begged, petting him absently to occupy her hands with something. Afterwards, she pulled out a tub of ice cream and a spoon, plopping down in front of the TV to watch the latest romantic made for television tear jerker.

Watching as the respected male lead serenaded his female interest, Minako's thoughts once again turned to Alan. She scarcely noticed when she rolled off the couch in her lamentations of young love. "Why can't I have that? Granted, I will just as soon as I reel Alan in, but I want it now," she informed her feline companion, who was giving her a look that might have been disgust.

"Oh, I know no one takes me seriously," Minako continued, not really caring that the cat couldn't respond. "'There goes boy crazy Minako again, off to claim another victim.' But I really do like Alan. He's cute and sweet and sort of funny and mature and... really, really cute." Her eyes became distant as she stared up at the ceiling, propping her legs up on the sofa, not really paying attention to how unladylike her position was.

"I've been dreaming about him, you know? It's actually kind of strange now that I think about it, but dreams are always pretty off. I don't remember much of it.  
But I'm running in high heeled shoes. That's what always sticks out in my mind because no one does that unless they're running away from something. But I know I'm not doing that. I'm going somewhere... I'm probably late for something, but why high heels? I don't know.

"Then I'm in this really big ballroom. Seriously, it's massive. I've never seen so many chandeliers in all of my life. And it looks like it's surrounded totally by stars, like there isn't any landscape at all.

"Charlotte's there, and she's dancing with her ex-boyfriend. I think she's leading, but I can't really tell. There's a bunch of other people, but mostly I just remember the look on Charlotte's face. She absolutely hates her old boyfriend. They only dated for two weeks, and Lucy says they only reason they went out was so that Charlotte could be the first one with a boyfriend.

"And I'm dancing and dancing even though my teacher is telling me to stop spinning around in circles because I won't know x from y. And my mother is following me and telling me that I'm doing it all wrong even though it feels right...

"I go through a lot of partners, boys... Well, men I've never seen before. Oliver's usually in their too, but he spends most of his time preening every time we pass a mirror. I mean, he is good looking, but honestly.

"And then there's Alan," Minako trailed off, her eyes fluttering closed. Yes, she would very much like to revisit that dream as it had a rather nasty habit of ending right before she worked up the nerve to kiss him right in the middle of the dance floor before another partner took his place.

"Unbelievable," she heard a male voice mutter to her left, low and growling. "I've spent years trying to find her, and this is what the powers that be give me? A love sick thirteen year old who burns microwave dinners."

"Daddy?" Minako mumbled, opening one eye. Funny, they weren't supposed to be home yet. She glanced over and didn't see her father. Just that cat pacing back and forth, mumbling something.

"This girl is supposed to save the world? She's hopeless! I'm not Ann Sullivan for Serenity's sake."

Minako was about to roll over and try to catch a nap in her cumbersome position when several things clicked in her head. Even then, it was a full fifteen seconds before Minako actually put two and two together, leaping to her feet and shrieking as if being attacked in an alleyway.

"Oh, my _God_!" Minako shouted, staring at the cat wildly.

He looked confused for a moment and then realized he'd actually been speaking aloud. He then proceeded to smile sheepishly, rub the back of his neck, and speak again. "Whoops. I meant to be a little more tactful about this..."

Minako squeaked.

Clearing his throat and taking on a proud stance, he stepped forward and said, "My name is Artemis, Minako. I have come to awaken you to become a warrior for the Moon Kingdom. You're the first Sailor Senshi we've tracked down, and consequently, are the leader. It is your destiny to--"

"What?" Minako shouted, clutching her head. "Slow down! I mean... God, you can talk?"

Artemis hung his head. "This is going to be difficult isn't it?"

"You're a cat," Minako asserted. "You're not allowed to talk back. You're just supposed to... Do cat things. Not people things. Like talking. I thought we had that all to ourselves!"

"Would you just listen to me for a minute?" Artemis snapped, perhaps a bit harsher than he intended. "You are Sailor Ve--"

"No, I'm Aino Minako. I mean, Minako Aino. Mina. Whatever. I'm not Sailor V or whoever you think I am. Next you're going to stick me in a weird, skimpy outfit and make me run around London saving people I expect?"

"...That was sort of the plan actually."

Minako laughed, clearly crazed. "I'm mad. I've gone off my head. This is clearly a result of studying too much."

Artemis twitched. "Somehow, I don't think--"

"Oh, who asked you?" Minako raved, gesturing wildly. "You're a cat! You're not allowed to lecture me. You're not allowed to speak!"

"Call me a rebel against convention," Artemis drawled. "Look, if you would just let me explain what's going on, then--"

"Didn't you hear me?" Minako snapped. "You are not allowed to speak!"

"That wasn't in the first set of rules you gave me when we arrived," Artemis pointed out. "You can't make things up as you go along."

Somehow managing to see the twisted logic in this, Minako decided that there really was no way that there was really only way to force this cat to be silent. She quickly vaulted over the sofa, dashing into the kitchen. Artemis sighed quietly and followed her.

"It really isn't all that difficult to understand, Minako," Artemis informed her, padding into the kitchen. "I can talk, and it is necessary that you listen to me. I am clearly the one with the most emotional maturity, and — GAH! PUT THAT AWAY THIS INSTANT!"

Minako had pulled out a broom and put a roll of duct tape around her wrist like a bracelet. She had a positively maniacal look in her eyes as she lifted the broom over her head, prepared to sweep him back towards her. "I don't know what you are, cat. I just know that you are not supposed to talk, and I will have none of it!"

With that, Minako let loose a rather ridiculous battle cry and brought the broom down on Artemis's head. The cat gave a great yowl and began zipping around the house, desperately trying to get away from this girl, who had clearly lost any semblance of sanity. He didn't dare look back, but judging by the way bristles kept grazing his back and things kept falling down behind him, he could determine two things. Minako Aino had killer aim but a rather wild backswing. He raced out of the kitchen, ran along the top of the sofa, leapt on to the television, hid under her father's desk in the study until she poked him with the broom handle, and ran back into the living room as fast as his four legs could carry him.

"If you would stop chasing me," Artemis began, daring to turn his head to shout in her general direction. "I could explain what was happening and perhaps we could stop the senseless destruction of property!"

"And if you would stop talking," Minako countered loudly, "I wouldn't have to tape your mouth shut!"

"I really fail to see how that's an appropriate argument," Artemis groused, taking a sharp turn around the coffee table.

"And I fail to see--"

Tragically, Minako would never get a chance to finish that sentence. Artemis, being much smaller than she, was able to take such sharp corners without hurting himself. As coordinated as Minako was, some things were simply impossible to do without hurting herself. She wound up tripping over the table leg, pitching forward, and flying over the coffee table. She hit the ground in a tuck, somersaulted into her father's chair, landing upside down with her feet dangling in the air.

Artemis walked back over to her cautiously, but feeling a bit better about her now that the broom was out of reach. He sat down calmly and said, "You see what happens when you overreact?"

"Be quiet…" Minako moaned miserably, sticking out her lower lip.

"Not until I can explain--"

At this, Minako stuck her fingers in her ears and began singing at the top of her voice. If she couldn't silence him, she could at least drown him out. "La la la la la! Not listening to you! La la la!"

Artemis twitched his whiskers. He leaned forward, planting his two front paws on her wrist and attempted to pull her hand out of her ear. "Must you be so childish?"

"La la la **yes** la la!"

He pulled harder, hanging on for dear life as she got to her feet and attempted to shake him off. He ground his teeth together and hissed, "You will listen to me,  
Minako Aino, or I will scratch you so hard--"

It was then that Minako unplugged her ears, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck with her left hand and covering his mouth with her right. He struggled until he realized why she was doing this.

Her parents were home.

Minako let out a string of curses worthy of Lucy herself and dropped Artemis in a panic. She then proceeded to all but fly about the ground floor, tidying it up,  
throwing the ice cream back into the freezer even though what she'd left of it had melted some time ago, wiping off the kitchen counters, etcetera. Then she grabbed Artemis roughly, ignoring his yowl of protest and dashed up to her room. Once there, Minako barricaded the door with everything moveable in her room, forgetting that she could deadbolt it if she so desired.

Minako turned back to Artemis, glaring at him murderously. "Now look you. I don't know what sort of hallucination you are, but you're not real. This isn't happening. Obviously, this is some kind of result of having too much ice cream before bed or a head injury or sexual frustration or something."

Artemis was very glad he only had air to choke on.

"Now, you are going to be quiet. You are going to be a good hallucination and evaporate or whatever it is you do. I will hear no more about sailors or short skirts or slaying dragons or whatever. You will now turn around so that I can change and forget any of this ever happened. Got it?"

Seeing it was useless to argue, Artemis complied, gazing up at the moon with a question he didn't dare say aloud for fear of reprisal.

What had he done to deserve this?

-----

Meanwhile, far and away from London, England, numerous figures assembled in a nearly endless cavern beneath the frozen Earth. Though many gathered, only two spoke,  
their ominous tones echoing against the dripping stone walls like armies marching to slaughter.

"Forgive the disturbance, Your Majesty, but my sources have reported what may be some distressing news."

"What is your report?"

"Apparently, they have noted some strange activity in the city of London, England."

"Remnants of our enemies?"

"Nothing so bold. Just hints of something powerful at work."

"Such as."

There was a pause. "One of the Maulish cats has been sighted."

"Which one?"

"Artemis."

Another pause. "I see..."

"No sign of the Sailor Senshi as of yet."

"There will be soon if Artemis has been careless enough to let himself be spotted."

"I would prefer not to take chances either, Your Majesty."

"A wise decision."

"I would like to request permission to head up operations in London while the others busy themselves elsewhere."

The wind shifted as if to indicate a nod. "Yes, that would be suitable. The three of them can help with the remaining construction of the citadel."

"I would also gather energy for our Empress Metallia, of course."

"Of course." Another pause. "You do realize that Artemis most likely means Sailor Venus is going to appear, do you not?"

"Is that supposed to be significant to me, Your Majesty?"

A sneer shining in the dark cut through the black. "No, of course not. Just a bit of trivia. Is that all?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"And General?"

"Yes?"

"Do not fail me, Kunzite. I detest failure."

"Of course not, Queen Beryl."

* * *

Coming Soon - Chapter Two: Sleep Sinister Truth


	3. Sleep Sinister Truth

Mask of Lies  
Chapter Two: Sleep Sinister Truth  
by Kihin Ranno  
3/15

"She's never going to be on time, is she?" Charlotte asked wistfully, leaning against Rebecca, who was quickly finishing up the last chapter in their history text.

"If she were, I'd be worried that she was some sort of alien life form," Rebecca joked in a distracted tone.

Lucy sighed, tapping her foot on the ground. "Why doesn't she hurry it up?"

"We haven't been waiting that long," Rebecca pointed out as she turned the page.

Lucy just shrugged and then turned to the house. She cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and shouted. "Aino! We'd like to get to school before the next century! We--"

Much to the surprise of all three of Minako's friends, the blonde came out of her house at a brisk jog before Lucy could finish her sentence. They gaped, watching as her mother came running out after her to toss her lunch into the girl's ready hands. Then Kaida turned and went silently back into the house, looking quite perplexed herself.

"She doesn't look like a Klingon," Rebecca muttered, eyes wide.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy asked.

"Nerd-speak for alien," Charlotte translated. She bounded forward and greeted Minako with a jaunty wave. "Hey, Mina! All ri--"

"Fine," Minako interrupted rudely, blowing right past them. None of the three missed the look she gave over her shoulder or the fact that she picked up the pace when she turned back around.

The three girls exchanged a meaningful glance and then continued after her. Lucy caught up with her first, having the longest legs. "What's up with you?" she asked bluntly.

Minako rolled her eyes. "I said, I'm fine."

"You look like crap," Charlotte pointed out. "Your hair looks like it hasn't been properly introduced to a brush in years, your eyes are all red, your skirt's all cock-eyed, your--"

"Is it really necessary to go into that much detail, Charlotte?" Minako asked, gritting her teeth.

Charlotte shrugged. "Just thought you should know."

"She just means you look like you had a bad night, that's all," Rebecca said soothingly, trying to finish reading and jog at the same time, and having a rather difficult time of it.

"No, she means you look crap," Lucy corrected.

Minako didn't respond. She simply broke out into a run, leaving her friends in her dust. They stood stock still, staring in shock.

"What crawled up her arse?" Lucy asked, irritated.

"Klingon?" Charlotte joked.

-----

A few minutes later, Minako arrived at school, ignoring the puzzled looks from the other students and teachers who recognized her. She stomped right into the building, not even returning the greetings she received with a curt nod. She continued on her way to the cloak room in a foul mood.

She knew that she would probably regret her actions later, but at the moment, Minako wanted to be upset, and she had absolutely no intentions of changing that. She was sure that no one would blame her for her behavior if they knew what had happened the night before. Then again, if she told any of them, she'd likely be shipped off straight to the mad house.

Minako whimpered, hanging her head tragically. A talking cat. A talking cat was in her house, babbling on about her being some soldier from the Moon Kingdom. It sounded ridiculous. She wouldn't have blamed anyone for thinking she had lost her head. She thought she'd imagined the whole thing when she had woken up that morning. But she still had the bruises from chasing him around the house, and he had been in her room that morning, just _looking_ at her.

Naturally, she had locked him in the wardrobe immediately so she could change and then left him there. He had to be punished somehow for existing, after all. She'd return him to Alan later, or else just turn him out into the streets were he would meet his fate via a stray pit bull.

"I hate him," Minako whispered furiously, clenching her fists at her side. "I hate him, I hate him, I hate him."

"I hope that's not me you're talking about."

Minako's eyes flew open, straightening at the sound of a familiar voice. Oliver Howell was standing in the doorway, smiling at her in a way he no doubt thought was extremely fetching. It actually was a very attractive smile, and one she would have appreciated on any other occasion. But that was not the right morning for him to hit on her.

"What if I said it was?" Minako asked dully, arching an eyebrow.

Oliver appeared wounded, clutching his heart as if she'd thrown a dagger into it. "You'd break my heart, babe."

Minako waved him off impatiently. "You'd recover."

He swung into the room suddenly, standing just a bit too close. He grinned again, reaching forward to move a wayward piece of hair out of her face. "No, I don't think I would."

Minako blushed furiously. She shook her head and took a step back, forcing herself to glare at him. Normally, she enjoyed flirting with Oliver. She wasn't all that interested in him (she had moved on from Oliver Howell weeks before), but that didn't change the fact that he was incredibly handsome. He'd also gone into puberty rather early and flaunted the fact at every occasion by acting older than he really was. She found that and a few other qualities of his insufferable on the whole, but amusing in small doses. Today, she found nothing amusing.

"Not now, Oliver."

He narrowed his eyes, looking uncertain. "It wasn't really me you were talking about before... was it?"

She was tempted to lie just to get him off her back, but she couldn't bear to. She had the future to think about, and being on Oliver's bad side was not something she would have liked to endure later. "No, it wasn't, but I'm just not in the mood right now."

"In the mood?" he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Now Minako regretted her kindness. She groaned and pushed past him. "Shove off."

Oliver sighed and called out after her, "You know you pine for me!"

"Lady said to bugger off, Howell," Lucy retorted on Minako's behalf, walking past him along with Rebecca and Charlotte. She gave Minako a meaningful look, clearly asking to slam his face into a wall. Minako shook her head subtly. Even if Oliver was a real enemy, she wouldn't get Lucy in trouble for fighting. The girl was good enough at doing it herself.

Oliver raised his hands and backed away. "As you wish." He made a great show of chivalrously backing off when asked, but he couldn't hold on to it for very long. After a second, he snickered and shouted, "See you next Tuesday, Lucy!" Then he burst into laughter, as did his mates who had been waiting nearby.

Lucy raised her middle finger and held it over her head. Charlotte also turned around and stuck her tongue out at him for good measure. Minako was momentarily offended that Rebecca didn't do anything at all, but then she realized that she had her nose in another textbook. For all Minako knew, Rebecca had missed that anything outside of her studying was going on. She smiled seeing her friends leap to her rescue, even though she had been so awful to them before. It was enough to make her decide that it was all right to be in a good mood again.

"Thanks," Minako said quietly to Lucy as she grew near.

"Please, give me more opportunities to tell that wanker off," Lucy demanded, bristling.

Charlotte shook her head. "It really is too bad that he's a sex god." She sighed sadly. "And it's too bad that he fancies Mina of all people."

"Nice," Minako said, sticking her tongue out at Charlotte.

"Yes, he's absolutely arse over tit, isn't he?" Lucy muttered.

"Lucy!" the three girls chorused, scandalized. That, it seemed, was enough to wake Rebecca up. It was also enough to make Rebecca blush, or so Minako assumed by the shade of pink her cheeks had turned.

Lucy shrugged, adjusting the positioning on her gelled hair. "I'm just saying."

Minako shook her head. "Well, if we're done being disgusting… I suppose I should say I'm sorry for this morning." She ducked her head, her anger fading to something like a dim memory. Her foul mood wasn't totally gone, but it had retreated enough for her to feel regret for what had gone on.

"I suppose you should," Charlotte agreed, folding her arms across her chest.

Lucy snorted. "Like I give a--"

"All right, Mina?" Rebecca interrupted smoothly, a cool smile on her face as she closed her book. The move was deceptively casual, and in spite of the ease in her voice, Minako could detect just a little concern in her eyes.

Minako frowned in spite of the gratitude she felt. "Not really, no."

"Trouble with the Dragon Lady?" Charlotte asked knowingly.

"No," Minako muttered. "With the cat."

"Cat?" Rebecca asked. "What cat?"

"Does that mean you have the painters in?" Charlotte asked.

Minako was about to snap at Charlotte when Lucy knocked her upside the head. She looked over at her taller friend, nodding her approval brightly. "Thank you."

"Any time."

-----

"Mina!" the physical education teacher, Ms. Stamp called out.

Minako leapt to her feet, saluting sharply. "Bitte bleiben sie am apparat!"

Her coach's eyebrow twitched. "Did you just ask me to hold the line in German?"

Minako shrugged. "If you say so."

"We learned it in German today, Ms. Stamp," Charlotte called out helpfully. "Of course, I don't see what possible occasion it could be used for, but we learned it anyway."

"And you remembered?" the teacher asked, smirking.

"Occasionally, I choose to listen and retain," Minako said, smiling broadly.

Ms. Stamp shook her head and gestured to the balance beam. "Just get up there, Mina."

"Und siehe da!" Minako said, hopping up and down a little in place before she darted over to the beam.

"Ja, ja," Ms. Stamp joked. She turned to look at the other girls and said, "As I'm sure you have all guessed, with the winter months bearing down upon us, we'll be moving most of our physical activity indoors. This term, I've chosen to spend the time doing activities such as aerobics, and a bit of simple gymnastics. I think most of you are aware that Ms. Aino is an award-winning gymnast--"

"Oh, go on!" Minako shouted while she finished chalking up and wrapping tape around her palms.

Ms. Stamp looked at her over her shoulder. "I would if you'd keep it closed for a moment." She sighed as Minako choose to all but swallow her lips in response. "As I was saying, Ms. Aino is an accomplished gymnast, and I've asked her to demonstrate one of her routines for us today. Obviously, I won't be asking you to do anything as complicated as Mina is about to do, but I would like to give you all an idea of how much flexibility is involved."

"I'd be happy to give another demonstration, Ms. Stamp!" Charlotte said, throwing her hand into the air with such force Minako worried it was going to come out of her.

"That's quite all right, Charlotte."

Minako shot Charlotte a sympathetic smile, but she received none in return. It was no secret that Ms. Stamp, like most teachers, thought that Minako and her friends were not the best sort. Ms. Stamp in particular seemed to have some sort of grudge against Charlotte, though none of them could guess what it was. Rebecca was the clear favorite among the faculty, although they all often gave her lectures on living up to her potential. Minako often heard the same things, or at least she heard the beginnings of them. She generally tuned them out, around the third sentence or so.

Minako rubbed her hands together, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth in concentration. She didn't have time to think about school, nor did she have time to think of that cat still locked up in her room. It had been nagging at her the whole day, though she had done her best to remain cheerful. But she couldn't be at all distracted now. The routine was much too important. One mistake and she might have become a laughing stock.

Minako exhaled and then rushed towards the beam. She vaulted on to the beam, pushing off the springboard without hesitation. She twisted in the air and landed on the balls of her feet, back arched and nose in the air, posing elegantly. She received applause for the mount, most enthusiastically from Lucy, who took great pleasure in being obnoxious.

She winked at her class and turned smoothly, extending one leg in front of her. Minako kicked it up slightly, keeping the toe pointed. Then she set it back down, turning again and bringing her other foot to touch the back of her knee. She brought it down, standing in the gymnast's version of fifth position. That done, Minako decided to get to the impressive stuff.

She performed a forward tuck, rolling out of it with her right foot pointed in front of her. She held the position for a moment and then performed a backbend, kicking her legs over her head. She landed perfectly once again, this time receiving even more enthusiastic applause, including a male from behind. Minako recognized the voice, turning her head to catch Alan's eye.

"Just what do you think you're doing in here, young man?" Ms. Stamp asked, scowling.

"That's not a young man. That's my brother," Charlotte drawled, eliciting a giggle.

"Is it?" Ms. Stamp asked. "I didn't recognize him under all that fringe."

Minako would have laughed, but she had to concentrate now more than ever. Distractions were death to any gymnast on the beam, and now that Alan was watching, she couldn't afford to make any mistakes. Even simple flubs that only Charlotte would notice were out of the question. Alan had attended most of their meets when they were younger; there was no telling what he would and would not recognize. Besides, even if he missed anything, Charlotte would be sure to point them out. Loudly.

Minako breathed and performed a few straddle jumps and then another turn. She posed, and did three back-flips in succession. She heard Alan whistle and forced herself not to react. Minako did another backbend, this time kicking her feet up into a handstand. Then she swung her legs back and down, finishing in a perfect split suspended above the beam as she put all her weight on to her palms.

"Good way to kill yourself," Charlotte muttered.

"Don't show off, Aino," Ms. Stamp chastised. "We know you're talented. Wrap it up."

Minako pouted, wishing that she had been given more time to perform now that she knew Alan was watching. She sighed, guessing she'd have to live with a big finish. She slowly pushed herself back up into the handstand, performing another forward roll and rising to her feet. She turned on the edge of the beam, pointing her toe in front of her once again and doing a few kicks. Then she closed her eyes and exhaled. Time for the dismount.

She did a round off, followed by three more back-flips to the other end of the beam. Then she pushed down with her feet and vaulted backwards, turning in the air at least three times. Minako shouldn't have done it, but she grinned widely, perfectly confident that she would land with stunning accuracy, sticking it as they said. Alan would then be so overcome with her talent that he would burst into applause, rush forward, and snog her senseless in front of the entire class. Ms. Stamp would be furious and pull them apart of course, but for a few blissful moments, Minako would receive her first and undoubtedly best kiss.

And she was quite sure later that it would have happened that way had she not landed on something small and fuzzy.

Minako shrieked and flailed wildly, unable to catch her balance at the last minute. She went down hard, landing on her backside painfully. The applause quickly dissolved into laughter, and Minako swore that no one was louder than Alan.

She would have liked nothing more than to close her eyes in shame, but there was no time for that. She looked down at her feet to see just what she had tripped over, and she felt like throttling the lot of them when she saw that it was that damn cat, Artemis. She growled, gritting her teeth while he yowled in pain. Feeling no sympathy towards him whatsoever, she reached forward and snatched him up by the scruff of the neck, stalking out of the building with her nose still in the air.

She slammed the door behind her and then shook a still whining Artemis violently. "What do you think you're doing?!"

Artemis rubbed the back of his head, muttering, "For a soldier, you sure are heavy."

Minako glared at him blankly and then unceremoniously dropped him to the ground. Unlike she previously believed, cats did not always land on their feet. Or at least this one didn't.

He glared at her after disentangling himself. "You have the right amount of violence though."

"Shut up!" she hissed. "Why don't you just shut up?"

"Because you wouldn't listen to me last night," Artemis said, being irritatingly reasonable.

"Why would I listen to a cat, who I still think is a figment of my imagination?" she asked, also trying to be irritatingly reasonable.

Artemis huffed, his tail puffing up in annoyance. "It seems to me that if something that isn't meant to talk suddenly starts talking, it would give you even more inclination to listen to it."

Minako hated it when people employed logic in arguments. It was beyond unfair.

"How did you get out?" she asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Your mother let me out once I started howling," Artemis said, sitting primly in hopes of retaining his dignity.

Minako's shoulders slumped. "Great. I'm going to be ripped to shreds once I get home."

Artemis huffed, his whiskers twitching. "Well, if you hadn't locked me in the wardrobe--"

"You were the one staring at me, just waiting for me to undress," she accused, pointing a finger at him. "You're a pervert. I had to lock you up."

Minako could have sworn that his fur took on a pink tinge. "I AM NOT A--"

"I really don't know where you get the nerve," Minako said, deciding to cut him off before he started lecturing her. After all, she was bigger than him. She didn't have to listen. "You talk to me, lie to me, and then try to see me naked. I don't know why I didn't just beat you to death with that broom last night. It would have saved me a lot of trouble. If you were dead, you wouldn't have just totally humiliated me in front of all of the girls in my class and **Alan** when you know very well that--"

"Having fun yelling at the cat there, Mina?"

Minako froze. She instantly started denying the fact that she had heard that voice before - that morning in fact. After all, if she acknowledged this person's identity, she was going to have to face the idea that she was going to be teased endlessly for at least the next three days. She might not have had to worry about a horrible social death, but being mocked for talking to a cat was not how she would have liked to spend the remainder of her week.

Unfortunately, she eventually had to turn and see who had found her. She couldn't even work up the energy to pretend to be shocked at seeing Oliver standing there along with two boys from her class, Darrell and Michael. She was suddenly very glad that she was popular and that she didn't even have to worry about Oliver Howell knocking her down.

"Oliver!" Minako giggled, clasping her hands behind her back. "You really shouldn't sneak up on girls like that. You never know exactly what you're overhearing."

Oliver snorted, arching an eyebrow awkwardly. He was still working on finding the right muscle. "So I've taken this calling the cat a perv out of context, then?"

"Exactly!" Minako insisted, realizing a minute later that there was really no way to properly explain the situation without looking insane. "What I mean is--"

"That you've cracked," Darrell interrupted. "Not that any of us thought you were entirely uncracked, but--"

"Shut it, Darrell," Oliver said with a sigh, rolling his eyes.

Darrell shrugged, taking the insult in stride. "All right then."

Minako stared at them for a moment. Of course, it was really useless for her to be surprised. She had already decided that she simply had no chance when it came to understanding boys.

"You do realize that I am obligated to spread this around now," Oliver confided to her, leaning against the wall.

Minako stuck out her lower lip. "I hardly think obligated is the right word."

Oliver shook his head regretfully. "Sorry, Mina. But you yelling at a cat for being sexually obsessed with you is just too funny for me to pass up."

Minako folded her arms across her chest. "Maybe for some unfortunate slug like Pamela Green, but I think I'm a bit above that, Oliver."

"Quite above," Oliver concurred. "Which is what makes it so necessary. The slugs, sometimes they like to see the mighty fall."

Minako scoffed. "Yes, because all of this is for their benefit."

Oliver considered this for a moment and then shook his head. "No. You're right. I don't really care, but that changes nothing."

"Oh, who's going to believe you anyway?" Minako concluded, attempting to rationalize her way out of the situation. It wasn't exactly her strong suit, but nothing else was working. "It's not like he can vouch for you," she reminded them, gesturing to Artemis.

Artemis let out a strange meow, as if reminding her that yes, he actually could do that. She resisted the urge to kick him in response.

"I do have two witnesses," Oliver said, gesturing to the two boys behind him.

Minako laughed, waving at the pair of them dismissively. "Yes, and they're so credible. They'd spread the word that I grew eggplants out of my ears if you said to, and everyone knows it."

Neither Michael nor Darrell seemed to take kindly to her assessment of their characters. "It doesn't matter if anyone thinks it's true or not!" Michael snapped. "You know just as well that we do that saying it at all is bad enough."

He was right. Of course, he was right. But Minako wasn't the type to give up without a fight.

"One word from me, and Lucy could turn you all into human pretzels," Minako drawled.

That seemed to make at least two of them nervous. Unfortunately, Oliver wasn't one of the two. He leaned forward, resting his palm against the building and invading her space. She had a sinking suspicion that she knew where this was going.

"There is one way I'd be willing to forget this incident ever happened," Oliver confided, reaching forward and taking hold of a lock of her hair.

Minako glanced behind him, watching as his two lackeys looked around to see if anyone was paying the group any mind. Judging by their lack of nerves, she had to assume that they were being ignored. She looked back up at Oliver. "Have you been taking lessons from the cat?" she joked, trying to make it look like everyone knowing about it would make no difference to her.

Again, Oliver didn't buy it. "You are just thinking the worst of me today. Lighten up a little, would you?" His hand floated from her hair to her shoulder in such a way that it almost looked accidental. "Come on then, you and I know it's not such a big deal."

Minako started to pull away. "Oliver, stop it. This isn't funny."

Oliver laughed quietly. "Is that how you thought I was being? Funny?"

Her heart started to pound, though not in that vaguely pleasant way it did when boys paid her this much attention. She started to feel anxious even while she was telling herself how ridiculous that was. This was Oliver, after all. Yes, he could be forward, but he'd never actually been serious about her. If he was, he would have done something about it long before now.

"Yes?" Minako said, leaning back. "Honestly, and you think I'm acting strange."

Oliver's mouth tightened oddly. "I've never liked being ignored, Mina."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Minako asked. "All right, so I haven't been falling at your feet like everyone else. You could say the same thing about Lucy. I don't see you getting all bent out of shape about her."

"She's a dyke," Darrell muttered.

Minako narrowed her eyes. She started to walk forward. "You take that back, you--"

Oliver laid both hands on her shoulders, pushing her back. "You, Mina Aino, are no Lucy Shannon." He paused. "And thank God for that."

"You're not even making sense now," Minako accused. "Now let me go."

"Just a kiss, Mina," Oliver continued, completely ignoring her. "That's all I'm asking.

Minako glared and grabbed his wrists, attempting to shove him off. "You're asking, and I'm saying no. Say all you want about the bloody cat. I don't--"

Oliver might have played football, but he had a fair amount of upper body strength as well. Before she knew what was happening, her back was against the wall and his breath felt hot and choking in her face. "Why are you being so stubborn? I thought we were friends."

"Friends don't generally leave bruises," Minako said, surprised at how her voice was shaking. "Oliver, I mean it, let go."

Oliver's eyebrows knitted together in frustration. "Why won't you just--AGH!"

Just as suddenly as she'd felt trapped, she was released again. Minako blinked as Oliver hopped up and down on one leg, clutching his ankle. Darrell and Michael were laughing at his misfortune, but what really caught Minako's attention was the loud hiss. She looked down, surprised to see Artemis standing a few feet away from Oliver, his ears flat to his head and his teeth bared. He almost looked frightening.

"The little bastard bit me!" Oliver shouted.

Minako chuckled quietly, smirking. "What do you know? You were actually useful."

"What if it has Japanese rabies?" Oliver accused, yelling at Minako as if she had directly instructed Artemis to attack.

Minako giggled. "Japanese rabies? Oliver, if diseases had nationalities, you'd have the most polite case in world history.

Oliver did not find her humor at all amusing, which really did not speak well of him. "We don't have theme here! Which means if I do have them, it'll be ridiculously expensive, and you'll pay for my treatment, you little--"

"Oh, stuff it," Minako said, rolling her eyes. She bent down and gathered Artemis in her arms, still spitting and exposing his claws for the benefit of his audience. "Say whatever you want about me, Oliver. I'll just tell everyone about how you're terrified of cats."

"I am not--" he started to protest. He cut himself off by yelping and leaping back when Minako pretended to toss Artemis on top of him. She also saw with great satisfaction that Michael and Darrell were equally nervous.

Minako laughed cheerfully. "Oh, this is fun. Too bad I have to go. Ciao, boys!" With that she gave a little wave and jogged off, walking back into the gymnasium with a little spring in her step.

Once they were out of earshot and certain that no one else was around, she looked down at the feline in her arms. "Well, that wasn't my usual idea of fun, but I'm still highly amused."

Artemis hissed one last time. "That little punk ought to be more than bitten. If I hadn't been there--"

"I would have been fine," Minako insisted, although now she wasn't quite so sure. She'd never heard of Oliver doing anything like that before, and she hoped to never have to so much as think about it again. "I could have handled it myself. I wasn't even that worried."

"Is that why you're trembling?"

Minako stopped in her tracks, glaring at him. She once again let him go, refusing to acknowledge the fact that her hands were indeed shaking. She put her hands on her hips and said, "Look, thanks for helping me out. I appreciate it. Really. But this doesn't mean that you get to tell me how I should be feeling or what I should be doing or whatever. It's none of your business - _I_ am none of your business – and just as soon as I get changed, I'm taking you back to Alan's."

His whiskers twitched. "What makes you think I'll stick around now that you've told me that?"

"Because I'd rather you just left," Minako said as she turned to go change. "And you never do as I'd like."

-----

Predictably, Artemis was still waiting for her after she'd changed into regular clothes. He didn't protest when she picked him up and started to walk him back to the Darlings' flat. She was rather surprised when he remained silent on the entire walk back, having expected him to go on and on about this saving the world or whatever it was he wanted her to do. But he never said a single word, not even when there was no one around to hear him.

She would have been worried, but of course, she didn't care for him at all.

Eventually, she reached the right flat. She raised her hand to knock on the door, and was quite surprised when it hit nothing but air. Minako looked up, blinking when her eyes met Alan's. Minako found she had to stop herself from sighing happily. He did have such pretty eyes underneath all that fringe.

"Oh, hello, Mina," Alan greeted a bit sheepishly. "If you're looking for Charlotte, she said she was going to go work out or something."

Minako nearly forgot to respond in kind. "Oh! Charlotte. No, I'm not looking for her. Actually, I came to return this." Minako held up Artemis by the scruff of his neck, dropping him back into Alan's arms.

Alan laughed aloud, catching the cat smoothly. "So that's where he went off to, eh? He fancy you?"

"A bit too much," Minako muttered, earning her a glare from the cat.

Alan looked at her oddly. "What was that?"

"Nothing," Minako chirped. "Anyway, Katarina and I found him in the park yesterday, but it was too late to run him back over here, so I kept him around for the night."

"How did the Dragon Lady feel about that?" Alan asked knowingly, scratching Artemis behind the ear.

Minako laughed out loud, not having realized that Charlotte had passed on their nickname for her mother to Alan. "I'm not quite sure. I haven't been around to hear it yet." Finally, she tore her gaze away from Alan's face and took a closer look at what he was wearing. "On your way to work?"

"Yeah," Alan said, dropping Artemis inside the apartment. "Not happy about it, but I have to earn a living somehow."

"I think it's sort of romantic that you're washing dishes," Minako babbled. "I mean, it's not a job that anyone considers glamorous, but someone has to do it. You're venturing where no other man wants to go!"

Alan laughed dryly. "And I'm going there covered in grease and with my arms covered in suds." He shook his head. "I don't think I agree with your assessment, but you are welcome to feel that way." He tore a hand through his hair, pushing his too-long bangs out of his eyes. "Anyway, I really ought to be going, so--"

"Mind if I walk with you?" Minako asked suddenly. She felt her cheeks growing red at the strange look he was giving her. "Just for awhile. It's just that there were these guys at school harassing me about the tumble I took in gym today, and they got a bit surly, so I'd feel better if I wasn't alone."

She could feel Artemis glaring at her about her rewrite of history, but she ignored it, focusing solely on Alan. He was more fun to focus on after all. "I suppose there's nothing wrong wit that," Alan said after awhile. He frowned. "But what exactly do you mean by--"

"It wasn't a big deal," Minako insisted, waving her hand flippantly. "It's just I'd rather not run into them again without someone older and intimidating to scare them off."

Alan laughed, pulling the door closed behind him. "I don't think I could scare anyone."

"The cat managed it," Minako said, laughing. "I'll tell you all about it."

-----

"So, what is it you want to do with your life?" Minako asked after she had finished up enchanting Alan with her tale of watered down sorrow from that afternoon. "Since you don't seem so enthusiastic about the restaurant."

Alan chuckled. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a talent for understatement?"

"My dad says that all the time," Minako said, her eyes widening. "How did you know?"

"Just a hunch," Alan said. He shoved his hands into his pockets, glancing up at the sky. "I'd tell you, but you'll probably just mock me like Charlotte does."

Minako gasped. "Oh, no. Never. Does she mock you? I'm going to have a talk with her about that."

Alan smiled, looking at her for a moment. "You're sweet."

Minako positively beamed, forcing her knees to work correctly and not turn to jelly mid-stride. "Tell me, Alan." Minako paused to look up at him, opening her eyes as wide as they would go. "Please?"

Alan faltered in his walk, coughing loudly. After a moment, he pushed a hand through his hair and continued on as if he had never stumbled. "Well, I really like poetry--"

"Oh, you want to be a poet!" Minako chirped, her eyes sparkling. She knew she had picked someone soulful and deep when she had decided to make Alan her future husband! "That's amazing. I always wanted to snag-- I mean, be friends with an actual poet."

Alan laughed quietly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm afraid you're going to have to keep waiting to find one then."

Minako blinked. "What do you mean? Didn't you just--"

"I'm not a poet, Mina," Alan confessed, looking embarrassed. "I love reading poetry. Byron, Yeats, Dunn... But I've never been any good at writing it. I'm an excellent critic, so I would know."

Minako laughed awkwardly at Alan's strange display of conceit and self-deprecation. "So, if you won't write poetry, what will you do?"

"I'd like to be an editor for a literary magazine," Alan said, chuckling. "I'd really like nothing more than to sit around reading other people's poetry all day long." He sighed, his shoulders drooping. "Charlotte, of course, thinks that it's boring and a complete waste of my time. Not that she's given any alternative suggestions grounded in reality. Do you know that she told me this morning that I ought to look into the male escort service?"

Minako choked. That had actually been her suggestion. She'd paid Charlotte ten pounds to actually do it.

"So, go ahead," Alan said, clasping his hands behind his head. "Make fun of me. I can tell you want to."

Minako shook her head wildly, nearly swallowing a lock of her own hair. "No! I don't think it's stupid at all."

Alan raised an eyebrow. "You don't?"

"I think it's good that you know what your strengths and weaknesses are," Minako confessed, wishing that a breeze would pick up to cool off her burning cheeks. "So even though you don't write it very well, you've figured out another way to be involved with what you love. It's admirable." She laughed, turning her red face away. "But you probably think I'm taking it too far..."

He chuckled. "No way am I going to pass up on a pretty girl telling me I'm admirable."

Minako had no idea how she kept from swooning. "You think I'm pretty?" she asked, certain that her eyes sparkled alluringly beneath the lamplight.

She had no idea why Alan looked so grey all of a sudden. "D-Don't be like that, Mina. I can't stand it when Lotte fishes for compliments."

Minako stuck out her lower lip, folding her arms across her chest. "I was just asking for confirmation, actually."

"You have a mirror," Alan said, reaching over and ruffling her hair. "You know if you're pretty or not."

Minako reached back and fixed her hair, sticking her tongue out at her companion. "Meanie... Anyway, why are you working at the restaurant if you want to be doing something else?"

Alan sighed and tipped his head back. "Saving money to go on to graduate school. There's no way I'll be able to break into the field without getting a Masters. Mum and Dad can't afford it all though, so I do what I can by getting part-time jobs like this. I think I'll have enough to go at the beginning of next term."

"That's great!" Minako chirped.

"Hope so," Alan said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

After that, their conversation seemed to hit a lull. Alan seemed to be wrapped up in his own thoughts, which Minako thought was extremely unfair. As his future wife, she was privy to such private musings, and it was wrong of him to shut her out like that. Not to mention the fact that she couldn't stand being around someone when they weren't saying anything. It was such a waste.

Then Minako had a brilliant idea.

"Oh, I'm feeling dizzy," Minako said, holding her head and swaying a bit on her feet.

Alan blinked and turned his head. "All right, Mina?"

"No... No, I don't think--" Minako cut herself off and stumbled forward as if she were about to faint. However, at the last possible second she reached out and grabbed onto Alan's arm, giving him no choice but to steady her or go down as well.

Really, she would have been happy with either resolution.

"Mina!" Alan shouted, pulling out his other hand to set her on her feet.

Minako sighed, hoping she didn't sound too blissful for a girl who nearly passed out. "Sorry, Alan. I just felt a bit light-headed."

He narrowed his eyes. "You're not trying to cut weight, are you?"

She blinked. "No. Why?"

Alan turned his head away, narrowing his eyes. "Nothing, I just thought..." He shook his eyes. "Forget it. Are you feeling better now?"

"Actually, I'm still feeling a bit peaky," Minako confessed, laying her head on his arm. "I think you are right about it being about food though. I meant to grab something before I met up with you, but I wanted to be sure I didn't miss you. Because of the cat, I mean."

"Right," Alan said, frowning. "Well, once we reach the restaurant, I'll be sure to snag you a roll or sweets to get your blood sugar up. All right?"

"Thank you," Minako said earnestly. "But would you mind if we stayed like this for awhile? It's easier to walk this way."

Alan seemed hesitant and glanced around for a moment. But after a moment he reached up and patted her head. "Fine then. You just let me know when you think you can walk properly again."

"Of course," Minako assured him, surreptitiously crossing her fingers behind her back. "We'd better get going. I'd hate to make you late."

"Right," Alan said, walking forward. But not before reaching around and touching the spot between her shoulder blades to make sure she didn't topple over once again.

Minako was one happy genius.

-----

Kunzite stood atop one of the many roofs in London, arms akimbo and grey eyes fixed on the streets below. He and a number of the more intelligent demons had been roaming the streets all day in search of the cat, Artemis. Every alleyway had been inspected and every pet store had been thoroughly searched, but they had turned up nothing so far. He was merely waiting for his last mercenary to give him a report before he could declare the day finished.

He closed his eyes for a moment, his frown deepening. He certainly had not expected the search to be wildly successful on the first day. It would have been extremely lucky and it would have pleased him, but he was not stupid enough to hope for it. He knew the search was less like looking for a needle in a haystack and more like finding a very specific needle in a mountain of needles. Still, part of him had wanted the impossible to occur so that his work could be easy for once. He wanted this assignment to be over and done with as soon as possible. The idea that Artemis was actually back and roaming free disturbed him deeply. After all, it meant that the Sailor Senshi, specifically Venus, would likely appear very soon.

And for whatever reason, she was important. Queen Beryl had revealed that much,

though she probably didn't realize how obvious she had been. Strange, she didn't normally underestimate him so much.

Still, he was grateful for the mistake. The information would undoubtedly prove to be invaluable.

"Master Kunzite?"

"Yes?" Kunzite asked, opening his eyes but not turning to face the demon that had just appeared behind him.

"I'm afraid my search did not turn up anything either," it apologized. "Forgive me."

Kunzite smiled cruelly. He could always refuse that subtle plea and sent the underling hurtling to its death on the pavement below. It was certainly be nice to work out some of the growing aggression.

"I did not think Artemis would be so easy to locate," Kunzite said easily, flexing his fingers. "He was not mentor to the leader of the Sailor Senshi because he was careless."

"Yes, Master Kunzite."

Kunzite exhaled, opening his eyes. While the river fog was beginning to settle on the city, he could still see well enough in the dusk. His eyes instantly latched upon a young couple heading towards his location. The man was quite a bit older than the blonde on his arm, and he seemed to be acutely aware of that face, blue eyes darting back and forth to see if he was being watched. For all his paranoia, he didn't seem to notice that he actually was being observed.

Kunzite turned his attention to the girl, narrowing his eyes. She couldn't have been older than fourteen, but she was already quite beautiful. She had pale skin and something of a foreign look to her, as if she didn't quite belong in this city. He also didn't fail to notice her long legs, but then, he never failed to notice that.

"Do you see those two down there?" Kunzite asked.

"Would you like me to do something, Master Kunzite?"

Kunzite nodded, turning to leave. "Queen Beryl is in need of energy in order to awaken Empress Metallia and begin reconstruction of our great kingdom." He tossed his cape as he walked forward into the growing shadow that would lead him home.

"Start with them."

-----

Everything was going perfectly. She was walking on Alan's arm, he'd told her she was pretty, and Minako was quite sure she was going to be able to get a kiss out of the deal. Of course, the trick was going to be making it look like it was his idea, but she was certain it was nothing she couldn't handle.

The monster that appeared in front of them though, that she definitely couldn't handle.

Forgetting about her dizzy spell, Minako stood straight up and jumped back, shrieking at the top of her lungs.

"Bloody hell," Alan whispered, moving directly in front of her. "Mina, don't move."

"Wasn't planning on it," Minako whimpered. "What is that thing?"

Minako clutched Alan's sleeve as she ran her eyes up and down the creature that she swore could have only come from her childhood nightmares. It seemed vaguely human, but only in the most distant sense. Its skin was a terribly flashy yellow color and wrinkled to the point where it looked like it was about to rot off the bone. There were dark sunken hollows where the eyes were supposed to be, and the demon seemed almost arbitrarily equipped with a set of fangs and claws. Minako noted with some disgust that its clothing appeared to be made from green flesh - a hunter who wore its prey.

"Alan..." Minako hissed. "We have to--"

"If you're trying to get your boyfriend to run away with you, little girl, it isn't going to be an option," the demon snarled deep in the back of its throat.

As much as Minako had wanted someone to mistake them for an official couple, she really would have preferred being anywhere else. "Alan, please."

Alan reached around and gave her hand a squeeze. Even during the tense confrontation, Minako's heart skipped a beat. "Look, I don't know who... what you are or what you want, but there's no need to get her involved in this. Just... just let her go."

The way his voice kept cracking made the heroic words sound considerably less effective, but Minako was willing to forgive him for that. "Don't be stupid!" she begged.

He laughed dryly. "Now you sound like Lotte."

"My first prey, and already I have to deal with empty heroics," the monster muttered. "Doesn't anyone know how to beg anymore?"

"Would that work?" Minako asked loudly. Lucy would yell at her for not having any shame, but Minako felt that survival came first and foremost in these situations. Dignity was entirely optional.

The demon bared the rest of its teeth, making Minako jump again. "No." Without any more warning than that, the monster leapt forward, claws unsheathed and saliva dripping from its open mouth.

"Iie!" Minako shouted, reverting back to her native language in her panic.

"Mina, get out of here," Alan murmured.

She was about to say something in response to that when she felt his hand close around her arm. She felt herself being flung back to the ground, rolling over at least three times before finally coming to a stop. She looked up just in time to see Alan being tackled by the monster, its claws digging into his shoulders.

"Alan!" Minako shouted, forgetting about the instructions she'd been given.

He cried out in pain, turning his face away from the demon's foul mouth. He seemed to be certain that he was going to be devoured, but in fact, a glow spread out over Alan's body beginning with the puncture wounds. It shone bright for a few seconds but gradually subsided. Eventually, it disappeared altogether, and the monster quickly dropped Alan to the ground.

Minako stared in horror at his ashen and the way his legs twisted unnaturally beneath him. All of the life that had been within him a few moments before was gone. He looked dead.

"Oh, God," Minako whispered, scooting herself back on the ground. "You... You killed him!"

The demon sniffed, bringing its hand up to its mouth. "I took his energy. Your little boy isn't dead." Its tongue slithered out of its mouth, brushing against its wet, red fingertips. "Yet."

Minako narrowed her eyes, her fists clenching at her sides. She tore her eyes away from both of them, focusing on the ground so that she wouldn't have to see any of it. "How could you? You don't know us... He didn't even do anything!"

"Hmph. You humans are so disgusting. You don't even know that you're living in a world that rightfully belongs to the Dark Kingdom."

Minako straightened something about that name sparking a memory, like something tickling the back of her mind. "Dark Kingdom?"

"The true rulers of this earth," the demon informed her. "But in order to take it back, we need energy."

Minako's brow suddenly felt like it was on fire.

"You don't mind if I take yours, right?"

Minako looked up just in time to see the monster lunging for her. Acting purely on instinct, she shifted her weight forward and hopped onto her feet, still crouching. Then she pushed off the ground and kicked her feet over her head, flipping backwards to avoid the attack. She landed on the hood of a nearby car, thrusting her arms out to keep her balance.

The monster did not seem amused. "Hold still!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, cause that's going to happen."

"Brat!" it snarled, swiping wide at Minako's legs.

Minako yelped and jumped up to avoid being cut by the claws like knives embedded into its skin. A moment later, it moved to jump on top of the car, so Minako very happily leapt off it once again, pushing her leg back in the air so that she would have a steady landing.

Unfortunately, her foot slipped on something furry.

Her legs went out from underneath her, and she landed hard on the street, jarring her elbows painfully. She cried out and turned to see what had gotten in her way, although she had already figured it out before she looked. "What are you doing here? You're going to get me killed!"

Artemis shook his head as he got to his feet, his legs shaking underneath him.

Apparently, the last blow had affected him more than the others. "No, I'm what's going to save your life."

"I fail to see how that's--" Minako stopped, catching a movement out of the corner of her eye. Without pausing to get a full understanding of what was heading for her, Minako scooped Artemis into her arms. Then she dove to the right and rolled away, using the fog to give her some cover as she slipped underneath a car.

"Agh!" the demon growled. "Damn it!"

Minako breathed a sigh of relief. "Safe for a minute at least." She glanced down at Artemis and whispered, "How do you always manage to position yourself in the worst place possible?"

"Forget about that!" he snapped. "You have to believe what I was talking about now!"

Minako shut her eyes. "You never said anything about monsters. And you never said anything about Alan getting hurt!"

Artemis arched his back. "How was I supposed to predict that?"

"What good is a cat that can talk if it can't predict those kinds of things?" Minako countered.

He clearly wanted to argue more with her, but for whatever reason, he didn't. He held out a paw, resting it on her forehead. Then he looked her directly in the eye and said, "Haven't you noticed that you feel strange?"

"So I have a fever," Minako muttered. "Maybe it's some kind of panic response."

Artemis broke free from her grasp and crouched low on the ground. "It's not that!" Surprisingly, rather than continue down that line of lecturing, Artemis narrowed his eyes and straightened his front legs in front of him as far as they would go, bowing low to the ground.

She was about to ask what he was doing when the crescent moon on his forehead began to glow.

Minako watched in awe, momentarily forget about the demon tearing the street apart looking for her. After a few seconds, the silhouette of something could be made out in the light. Eventually, a compact in the shape of a crescent moon appeared. Minako saw that had a red jewel and some sort of rose detailing on it. She could tell right off that it was gorgeous, but she sensed that there was no time for her to admire its appearance.

"Open it," Artemis instructed.

Perhaps out of shock from having been attack by a monster, Minako obeyed without protest. She gasped when she saw her reflection in the tiny mirror. It was no wonder her forehead felt so strange. Right in the center of the flesh, peaking out from beneath her fringe was a glowing symbol that definitely should not have been there.

"What... What is this?" Minako asked fearfully. She looked down at Artemis. "What are you doing to me?"

"Nothing," Artemis said quietly. "Minako, I've been trying to tell you. You've been born to be a warrior. You're destined to have to face monsters like this all the time, just like you're destined to find your princess and protect her at all costs. This compact will give you the power to transform into that warrior."

Minako shut her eyes. "Then I don't want it."

Artemis hissed. "Minako--"

"I don't want it!" Minako whispered fiercely. "I don't want anything that means that I have to keep doing things like this! I'm scared, Artemis. I'm scared and Alan is hurt and these things aren't supposed to happen. This isn't supposed to be real!"

"WHERE ARE YOU?" the demon screeched a few feet away. Minako had to cover her mouth to keep from screaming when she heard a car being flipped over.

Artemis shook his head. "This is happening, Minako, whether you like it or not. And you're going to have to stop acting like a child and do as I tell you if you have any hope of getting out of this alive." He paused, glancing in the direction of Alan's unconscious body. "And any hope of helping him."

Minako felt a lump lodge itself in her throat, and she couldn't help but follow Artemis's gaze. She looked at Alan's body and the blood that was just starting to seep out from under his back, and she had no idea how she kept herself from crying. All she could think about was how she had stayed behind for his sake. But there wasn't anything that she could really do to help him.

At least there wasn't supposed to be.

"That's cheap," Minako told Artemis flatly.

He shrugged. "If it works, right?"

Minako closed her eyes, knowing what her decision had to be. Whether or not she wanted to, there weren't any other options of getting Alan help. "What do I do?"

"Hold up the compact and call out, 'Moon Power, Transform!'" Artemis instructed,

sounding positively giddy that he'd won her over.

Minako wrinkled her nose. "Don't you think that's a bit--"

"If you don't come out in five seconds, I'll do a lot worse to you than I did your boyfriend!" the monster snarled, turning over another car.

"Right, no time," Minako surmised, rolling out from underneath the car. She peaked up through the window to see the demon crossing the street and head directly for the car she was using as cover. "Here goes everything."

"Nothing," Artemis corrected.

Minako would have loved to say something to that, but she decided that argument would have to wait. She held her compact up and shouted, "Moon Power, Transform!"

She felt the burning on her forehead spread throughout her entire body, but it wasn't nearly as painful as it had been when it was concentrated. In fact, it almost felt comforting. Gold filled her vision, and for a few seconds, she thought it seemed as though she was whole. Even though she was still terrified, there was peace as well. It felt like going back to school after a long summer vacation; fear that things would be different and the familiarity that quickly followed.

"There you are!" the monster snarled. Minako heard the rending of metal and Artemis' loud yowl as the car was pushed away.

And suddenly Minako felt like she wasn't Minako anymore.

"Stop right there!" she shouted, pointing a finger at her enemy. She was very happy to see that she actually managed to hold it steady. "You picked the wrong girl to mess with, Pointy."

The spot where the demon's eyebrow was supposed to be spasmed. "Pointy?"

Artemis cleared his throat from the ground. "You know, a speech really isn't necessary."

She ignored them, determined to follow through on her introduction now that she'd started it. "I won't forgive someone who interrupts a couple's romantic walk down the street, especially not when the promise of a kiss waited at the end of it!"

"Where did you get that idea?" Artemis hissed.

She stomped her foot and said, "Why don't you just go hide until I can finish, Furball?"

Artemis rolled his eyes, but did as she asked, muttering, "This is London's savior. God save us all."

"Anyway," she said loudly, turning back to the bemused demon. "Now that you have attacked innocent people, you must suffer the consequences brought to you exclusively by the Champion of Justice and Soldier of Love! I am the Phantom Legend, Sailor V!" she finished grandly by striking a pose, complete with salute.

The monster didn't look impressed. "Are you done yet?"

Sailor V blinked. "Err... Yes."

The demon's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Good."

Anticipating the attack, Sailor V leapt up just in time to avoid its grasp. She flipped over in the air and, using its head as a springboard, landed behind it in the street. Even though she knew she shouldn't she couldn't help but look over at Alan to see how he was doing. He still hadn't moved.

She tore her gaze away from him and returned her focus to the fight. The monster wasn't rushing toward her, as she would have expected. It just glared at Sailor V and said, "You know I can feel your heart beating all the way over here."

Sailor V swallowed and took a step back. "Is that supposed to scare me?"

"You're already scared, little girl," the monster said with a chuckle. "I'm a predator, and we can smell fear."

She swallowed and once again forced her legs to work correctly. "I'm not going to run away."

"I don't want you to." It smiled and showed off all of its teeth. "It's harder to hit a moving target."

She screamed as the monster lunged for her, grabbing her shoulders as it pushed her down to the street. Sailor V hit the pavement hard and felt the wind get knocked out of her. She let out another shriek when its claws sank into her skin. A moment later, she felt as if something was being pulled out of her body. She looked down at her limbs and saw that they had taken on a bright glow, like Alan's only brighter and yellow in color.

"Ah, you have much more energy for me than your friend over there," the monster said, positively drooling at the prospect. "First, I'm going to take all of it away from you. And then I think I'll see how good your flesh tastes."

Sailor V felt sure she was going to be sick. This wasn't how she wanted that day to go. All she'd wanted was to spend some time with Alan and see what he was like. She wanted a kiss, she wanted a boyfriend, she wanted him, but if that wasn't going to happen that day, she hadn't been going to give up. But no, instead of all that, a stupid cat wouldn't stop bugging her and he'd talked her into getting involved in this stupid fight. He said she was a hero. How could she be a hero? She couldn't even move! She was going to die some monster's snack food, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it.

She shut her eyes and hoped that it would be over soon.

"Sailor V!" she heard Artemis shout. "Fight back!"

She shook her head slowly, feeling herself growing weaker and weaker by the second. "I can't..."

"That's right," the monster hissed. "You can't." It leaned forward and whispered, "I wonder whose flesh will taste sweeter... yours or that boy's over there?"

Sailor V's head snapped over to wear Alan was. He hadn't woken up, and it was becoming frighteningly clear that that wasn't going to happen any time soon. He was not going to be able to defend himself, and even if he were awake enough for that, he couldn't win. If she was beaten, then he was done for.

"I'm banking on yours," the monster informed her.

Sailor V clenched her jaw and turned her head back to the demon's, her blue eyes boring into its black ones. "Sorry to say you'll never know."

With as much strength as she had in her body, Sailor V brought her legs up to her chest and set the bottoms of her feet into the monster's stomach. Then she kicked out as hard as she could. She cried out as the claws were forcibly torn from her back, but she quickly forgot about the pain when she watched her enemy sail away from her, landing almost ten feet away on the street.

She hopped to her feet, feeling energized. She was running on adrenaline and rage, but that worked well enough for her. "You are never touching him again." She brought up her compact and held it out at the demon, unsure of exactly why she was doing it, but knowing it was right. "You're never touching anyone again."

It looked up at her, shoulders hunched in anger. "Stupid bitch. Do you think I'm the last one who'll be after you? I'm just the first. Even if you kill me, there are millions of us waiting in the wings. We'll have your head yet, Sailor V."

The threat was a terrifying one, but she didn't have time to let it affect her. If she showed weakness now, she knew she might never get another opportunity to come out on top. "Ta!"

She flipped the compact open, and she watched in shock as a large golden beam burst forth from the glass. She followed it back to the demon, watching as it hit her opponent right in the chest. It let out something like a lion's roar and a shrill scream mixed together, and Sailor V had to fight not to stuff her fingers in her ears. She watched as the demon's skin seemed to crack like a shattering mirror, golden light seeping through the edges. Finally, it exploded from within, charred flesh turning to dust in the air.

Sailor V stared at the scorch mark on the street, the only thing left of the horrible monster she had just battled. She felt her hands start to shake as they flew to her mouth, physically stopping her stomach from rebelling against her. She turned away and locked her knees to keep from toppling over.

"That was great!" Artemis gushed as he bounded over to her from his hiding spot. "I have to admit, I was worried there for awhile, but you--"

"How do I get out of this?" she asked quietly.

Artemis looked at her for a moment, his green eyes quickly growing hard. He nodded shortly, understanding. "Just turn the compact mirror on yourself."

She did so as quickly as possible, pausing only to have a look at what she looked like. She glanced down at her outfit, vaguely amused at how it matched the colors of the flag. Then she looked in the mirror just in time to see that she was wearing a stylized red mask and that a crescent moon was on her brow where the symbol of Venus had once been. She wondered at that, but she didn't ask, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt the weight of the mask melt away from her face. She shut her eyes and closed the compact with a loud snap. "There. I'm done. You can have it back now."

Artemis stared at her as she held the mirror out to him again. He shook his head and said, "Minako, I told you--"

"I know," she interrupted harshly. "I know what you said about me, but I don't care. I don't want to do this ever again, and nothing you say is going to make me change my mind. So just take it back."

"If you know, then how can you--"

"This isn't me!" Minako shouted, tears making her voice uncomfortably thick. "I don't care what you say, this isn't me! And you can't make me be this great warrior because I'm not one! I'm just... I'm just me."

Artemis looked at her for a long moment. As much as he had been pushing her into this, she could tell in an instant that he was going to stop fighting with her on the issue. She didn't know why, but she was grateful for it. "It's yours now. If you don't want to use it, I can't make you. But this isn't going to be the last of these attacks, and it's very likely that you might happen upon one again. You should keep it to protect yourself if nothing else." He turned to go, his tail drooping. Just before walking away, he glanced at her over his shoulder. "You really were wonderful, Venus."

"Mina," she hissed, back away. "My name is Mina."

He smiled fondly. "It wasn't always." That said, he ran away from the scene.

She hoped she'd never have to see him again.

Minako shook her head and turned around to see Alan still lying in the street. She wiped away her tears and ran over to him, carefully lifting his head onto her lap. She reached over and held his hand, although that gesture was more for her sake than his own. She bent her head until their foreheads were touching and squeezed her eyes shut, trying everything she could think to do to keep from crying.

"I'm sorry," Minako whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Mina?"

Her eyes flew open, and she straightened to see Alan struggling to get his eyes open. He groaned loudly and muttered, "What's... I feel so..."

"You're going to be okay," Minako whispered as she finally heard the sound of sirens coming towards them. Apparently, someone had been by to call the police after all. "I promise."

-----

For no apparent reason, Kunzite woke up out of a dead sleep and sat straight up in bed.

As he tried to figure out the various motives he could have for doing this, he noticed something change in the room. He started to tense, readying himself for combat, when he realized who it was. He relaxed considerably and smiled lazily, although it probably couldn't be seen in the darkness of the room. "What have I told you about suddenly appearing like that? I might not realize it's you one of these days."

"You'll always know," Zoisite said, his voice lacking its normal steadiness.

Kunzite narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"

"Your youma..." Zoisite began carefully. "It failed."

Kunzite blinked, not comprehending immediately. "Failed?"

"It was attacked."

A sound rumbled deep within his chest. "Artemis."

"From what my scouts tell me, he was present at the scene."

Kunzite thought about asking Zoisite exactly what his spies were doing monitoring operations in London, but he decided to let it slide for the time being. He could make issue of it later, when he had time to be angry about it. "So he managed to locate a Sailor Senshi to interfere with our plans?"

Zoisite hesitated. "Well, not exactly."

"Zoisite," Kunzite said sternly.

"It wasn't one of the four Senshi we're familiar with," he finally concluded. "Her uniform is unlike that of the original four, and she didn't call herself by any of their names."

Kunzite narrowed his eyes. "What did she call herself then?"

"Sailor V."

Kunzite paused for a moment and chuckled. "Well, it's obvious then. It's Sailor Venus attempting to--"

"Kunzite, she had a crescent moon on her forehead."

He stopped. And it was quite possible that the world stopped. He knew what that mark meant. It had been sacred in the time of the Silver Millennium. Only royal family members and the Queen's most trusted advisors bore that symbol on their person. Even the Guardian Senshi, four of the most powerful women in the universe, were not permitted to wear it, not that they would have wanted to.

Its presence threw something of a spanner into Kunzite's theory. The Senshi had been forbidden from wearing the symbol, but only a Senshi could have appeared and dispatched a youma so easily.

Unless...

"Have you mentioned this to anyone else?" Kunzite said softly.

Zoisite made a strange noise. "No. I came straight to you."

"Good," Kunzite muttered. "Repeat it as many times as you like. Just omit the detail about the crescent moon. I think it's best if we keep that to ourselves for the time being."

He could hear the frown enter into Zoisite's voice. "Queen Beryl will find out eventually."

"I know," Kunzite said, leaning back to settle into his bed. "But you do not want to be the one to tell her."

Zoisite certainly couldn't argue with that. "Do you think it's her?"

Kunzite didn't speak, mulling over the question. What did he think about this mess anyway? It was important he give due consideration to all of the possible explanations for this Sailor V's existence. After all, he was going to have to present Queen Beryl with several options without ever mentioning the one that was now the most likely.

"I think we have good cause to be worried," Kunzite said finally. "Especially if the princess proves to be as formidable an opponent as her mother."

"Her mother died," Zoisite reminded Kunzite, his voice pleasantly cruel.

Kunzite smiled, remembering. "And so will her daughter, if she is Sailor V." Kunzite paused, his fingers digging into his palms. "But in the Silver Millennium, Serenity brought down the entire Dark Kingdom with her life. We did not kill her; she sacrificed herself.

"I want to taste this Serenity's blood without her consent."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I'm so sorry that this chapter took as long to assemble as it did. -- Here's what happened: I wrote about half of it in a notebook on a plane or something expecting to transfer it later. Unfortunately, I forgot about it, and by the time I remembered it and went looking, months could have gone by. I'm really not sure. Long story short, I have no idea where the notebook is, and I had to start from scratch, pretty much hating everything I committed to paper. Very frustrating.

But it is here now and hopefully not sucking! Thanks as always to Starsea for being a perfectly fabulous editor, and thanks to the readers who have nagged me about getting this next chapter out. I hope to get at least one more out before the summer is over. Keep your fingers crossed!

Coming Soon - Chapter Three: Smiles to Hide Me, Crosses to Bear


	4. Smiles to Hide Me, Crosses to Bear

Mask of Lies  
Chapter Three: Smiles to Hide Me, Crosses to Bear  
By Kihin Ranno  
4/15

Minako was not one of those people who couldn't stand hospitals. She'd been in hospital several times already - her lot in life as a tomboy. She'd broken her left arm falling out of a tree her mother had told her not to climb; she'd sprained her wrist when she took a nasty spill off the uneven bars; she'd twisted her knee diving for a volleyball, allowing her team to win the championship game. So, Minako was perfectly fine with the hospital; clearly, it was the waiting room she couldn't stand.

She'd alternated between pacing and trembling in her seat for the past twenty minutes. She couldn't decide if she felt nervous because of Alan or Alan's family. She told herself that Alan hadn't looked so bad, and she could almost believe it. But she couldn't tell herself that his mother's pale face, his father's incoherent stuttering, his little sister's tears would be easy to bear. No one lied that well.

"Mina!"

Her head snapped up too quickly, and her neck sang with pain. Her legs straightened, and she found herself moving towards Charlotte before she even thought of doing it. The elder Darlings moved past her to find more knowledgeable information, but she felt Mrs. Darling's well-manicured hand give her a quick squeeze as she pushed by. Another time, it might have made her feel better.

Minako and Charlotte grasped hands when they reached each other, clinging as if their mutual strength could hold everything together.

"Mina, what happened?" Charlotte asked breathlessly.

Minako wondered how far she'd run. "I… I don't—"

Charlotte's bright grey eyes narrowed quickly, her head nodding in a cursory examination. "And why aren't you hurt?" Her pale cheeks flushed and she raised her voice before Minako could think of a plausible explanation. "Why did my parents get a call that my brother was badly hurt, and you're sitting out here just fine?"

"Charlotte—"

"Answer me!" she demanded, her leg twitching as though she were tempted to stamp her foot.

Minako felt her own cheeks growing hot, dropping Charlotte's hands sharply. "Don't feel the need to be grateful that two people you care about aren't in the hospital. And just because I'm not laid up, doesn't mean I'm not—"

"You're right," Charlotte muttered hoarsely, her fingers digging into her hair. It hung loose about her shoulders, damp and frizzy. "You're right, I'm sorry. I just…" she exhaled, her breath shaking. "I'm sorry. Just tell me what happened."

Minako dragged her teeth across her lips, scraping the skin. She tasted blood on the tip of her tongue. How could she tell Charlotte or anyone else what had actually happened? A monster – a demon – had attacked her and Alan, demanding their energy. It had gotten Alan, but before it could lay a finger on her, a talking cat had given her a compact that changed her clothes and gave her powers. A cat had made her a superhero.

"Not bloody likely," Minako hissed before she could stop herself.

"What?"

"I mean," Minako started, too loudly. "I mean we were just… we were mugged. And Alan protected me. The guy… roughed him up a bit, but before he could do anything to me, the police showed up. That's it." She swallowed; the lie tasted bitter even though it was white. "That's what happened."

Charlotte looked at her sympathetically, and before Minako knew it, she was caught up in the smaller girl's hug. Charlotte's arms felt comfortable and familiar, and for a moment, Minako felt the tension unwind itself from her upper back. She could almost pretend things were normal when Charlotte played the emphatic best friend, even if they were here due to circumstances that here anything but normal.

"I need to go with my parents," Charlotte whispered, giving her an extra squeeze. "But I'll be around later to tell you how he's doing."

Minako nodded. "Later, then."

Charlotte slipped away like shadows sliding on a wall, her dark hair an unkempt cloud trailing behind her. She moved from a walk to a jog to an all out run, leaving Minako behind, the message clear. A sibling could go where a friend could not, no matter if that friend had saved his life.

Minako's eyes shut reflexively as they began to burn. Crying couldn't wash away the last few hours, but if it could have, she would have wept for days.

"Miss… Eye-nu?"

For a moment, Minako wondered who they could be addressing with such an unfortunate name. Then she realized it was a bastardization of her own. She turned and found two members uniformed men standing behind her. At first, she thought they were from Scotland Yard, but then she recognized the clothing from another branch of law enforcement. They were Interpol.

"That doesn't sound right at all, does it?" one of them with blond hair buzzed close to the scalp fretted. His accent wasn't native to the country; she thought it might have been Swedish.

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "Mina's fine."

He looked supremely relieved; too relieved. Minako frowned slightly, realizing he was pretending to bumble to put her more at ease. He expected her to buy it because of her age. "All right then. Mina. I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Mr. Darling's… was that his sister?"

"Hai—I mean yes," Minako corrected. She hadn't made that sort of mistake in years, and now she'd slipped into Japanese twice in one day. She felt so tired that she could have gone to sleep right there. "If you heard what happened, then you don't need to talk to me."

"Well, I'm afraid we do, Mina," he interrupted, stepping forward before she could move past him. "Because you see, what you've just described doesn't… quite track with what the other witnesses have told us."

Minako swallowed her anger that someone else has been around and decided to leave her in danger rather than do the right thing. "Considering that I'm the one who got attacked, I'd think you'd take my word for it." She held up her arm, scraped and bruised. "I was a bit closer to the action."

The Interpol officer did not have the grace to look chagrined. "I understand, Mina, but I was just wondering if you might have masked the truth from your friend because the real story might have sounded a bit… out of the ordinary."

Minako's heart skipped several beats and her forearms started to perspire. He suggested something dangerously close to truth. "I don't know what you mean," she answered sharply.

The other man intervened. His skin gleamed like polished mahogany under the fluorescents. "I apologize, Ms. Aino," he said, his rich voice soothing her even though she knew she should have remained on her guard. "My partner very rarely speaks clearly. What I believe he means is, do you think there is a chance that the attack could have been supernatural in nature?"

He said it without guile and hesitation, as if this were a perfectly natural question relating to the suspect's eye color. Then she remembered that the demon hadn't had eyes. She felt her stomach beginning to turn. Her right hand covered her mouth, forming a blockade.

"Ms. Aino?" he pressed, one eyebrow arched.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Minako ground out. "Excuse me."

She pushed her way between them, jerking away when one of them tried to grab her. She dashed forward, curving right at the door to the ladies' toilet. Thankfully, the first stall was vacant. She pushed through the door and didn't bother to lock it behind her. She simply fell to her knees and felt her body rebel against her. Her middle contracted, and her chest seized. Then she was wretchedly, painfully sick, her hair getting in the way and the most awful sounds accompanying the bile up her throat. It felt like ages before she could relax, and then her insides burned. She realized a moment later that she'd been crying.

She pulled herself to her feet, her entire body shaking. She stumbled outside, prepared to either grab onto the counter or simply hit the floor. She was surprised when a pair of arms caught her. She nearly cried out, but a gentle voice filled the empty room, winding around her like a blanket.

"You poor dear," an older woman tutted. Minako winced when she looked at her outfit, blinded by the all the white. "It's no wonder you've gone and gotten ill. Stupid rozzers harassing you, and after you've been through such a fright." She clucked her tongue, pushing Minako's damp bangs away from her face. "Poor dear. Do you want me to call your mum?"

Minako shuddered at the thought of her mother coming to pick her up. There were two scenarios that accompanied this possibility. The first was that she would be scolded for being in a bad area (which she hadn't been) or alone with a boy (which, Minako supposed she had a point about, but she was really in no mood for that argument). The second was far more distressing and involved her mother speaking in a quiet voice for the rest of the night, emptying a bottle of wine on her own. Her father was a possibility, she supposed, but they simply didn't talk. He wouldn't have known how to comfort her in this moment; he probably wouldn't even know what to say, and so, he would say nothing.

"Do you think," Minako began, wincing at how much it hurt to speak. "Do you think you could ring Katarina Ainsworth?"

She frowned, her clear eyes clouding with uncertainty. "Well, I suppose so, dear, but who might she be?"

"My older sister."

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Minako remained in the bathroom, still trying to wash the taste of illness out of her mouth. Her hair hung damply around her shoulders and much of the floor shone with water spots after she'd attempted to clean up. The older nurse had said she'd gotten a hold of Katarina and that she was on her way. She'd possessed the kindness to leave Minako alone then, sensing Minako's humiliation.

Minako spit out another mouthful of water, which had done her no good. She'd never wanted to clean her teeth quite so much before.

"Where is she?"

Minako straightened at her older sister's voice, slightly muffled through the door and just barely carrying over the din. She nearly exited right away, expecting that Katarina had caught up with the nurse. She froze when she heard a baritone answer, a voice that reminded her of her father's morning cup of coffee.

"Girl ran into the bathroom awhile ago. How do you know her, Ainsworth?"

Minako crept forward, pressing her ear against the door so that she didn't miss a word.

"She's a Tokyo native. I taught her English when I was at university. Service project. What are you two doing skulking about?"

"We believe Ms. Aino is a witness."

"A witness? I was under the impression that she'd got mugged along with the Darling boy. I thought you lot were working on—"

Katarina stopped so suddenly that for a minute, Minako thought she'd been forcibly silenced.

"Yes. We are working on that," he said gravely.

Katarina's voice became even more hushed. "Did she say anything?"

"Ran off before we could get anything conclusive. But she seemed pretty shaken up."

Katarina scoffed. "Well, that's perfectly natural, isn't it?"

"What I mean is, she seemed pretty shaken up at the suggestion that this wasn't a normal mugging."

Minako didn't hear whatever Katarina said in response to that. She did, however, recognize Katarina's favorite pair of sensible heels clacking against the hard floor moving toward her. Minako quickly reassumed her position at the sink, turning off the water she'd accidentally left running. The door opened a few seconds later.

"Oh, Minako," Katarina sighed, rushing forward with open arms. Minako met her halfway, throwing herself into the embrace like a frightened child. She clung to the older woman, whimpering and fighting the urge to cry anymore. Katarina made soothing noises and stroked Minako's damp hair. The tightness in Minako's stomach began to unwind as Katarina's ministrations continued. "I'm so sorry this happened."

Minako tried to respond, but all she could manage was a pathetic whine.

Katarina squeezed her shoulders. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Tremors raced through her limbs like her own personal earthquake. "No," she shuddered. "Please, don't—"

"All right, all right," Katarina whispered, pressing her lips against Minako's clammy brow. "I just thought it might help. Don't worry your head over it. I'm taking you home."

Minako had to fight to stay upright and keep from collapsing in relief. She turned so that she was shoulder-to-shoulder with Katarina but did not let go of her waist. Together, they walked out with their arms around each other. They slowed only for a moment as Katarina gave her fellow officers a frosty look before continuing on their way. Minako almost asked that they stop and ask if Alan was all right, but as much as she loved Alan, she wanted to be home in her room with the covers pulled up over her head and the windows and doors locked against monsters and cats that talked.

It was not until they were in the car and halfway home that Minako realized the Interpol officers had never identified themselves.

* * *

Minako woke up the next morning in a dizzy haze. For a moment, she remembered only that it was a Saturday, and she thrilled at the knowledge that, despite her mother's protests, she could easily spend a lazy day in bed or wile away the hours window-shopping and eating fish and chips with her friends. But then she turned over, all of her muscles sang with pain, and she remembered. The battle. The monster. The transformation. _Alan._

Minako whined into her pillow and drew her knees up to her chest. Part of her had gone to bed hoping that it had all been a dream – that she would wake up and everything would be normal. But she could not ignore the soreness and the bruises. She couldn't erase the marks or the memories, the images too sharp to resemble a dream or a bit of film. They were her own, much as she would have loved to give them to anyone else.

She didn't miss the irony of the situation, though she was surprised to remember what irony meant. All her life, she'd wanted to be special. Extraordinary. She wanted to be worshiped and adored, loved by the masses.

However, she'd wanted to be a singer, not a soldier. If she was fighting, how could she pursue her own dream? And how could she be a normal girl in the meantime?

Instinctively, Minako flung her hand over the windowsill, snatching up the compact that lay there. She'd wanted to hide it under the mattress or throw it in the garbage, but some strange pull from her stomach had made her lay it there in view of the moonlight. She wondered if this was what Artemis had meant by destiny.

She cradled the gold bauble in her hands, staring at the metal work. Independent of what she was supposed to do with it, she thought it was gorgeous. The smooth gold practically glowed in front of her, and someone had taken great care on the creeping rose vines curving around the outer edge. It was lovely, and if she had thought of it as only a mirror, she might have loved it.

She squeezed the compact in her hands, wishing she had the strength to shatter it.

Well, try as he might to shove this on her, Minako would have none of it. She had refused to participate in his games and really only kept the mirror to make him stop bothering her. So she shouldn't let it bother her. It wasn't her life; it wasn't ever going to be her life. She wouldn't do it.

Minako cheered instantly and dropped the compact unceremoniously on the bed. Then she flung the covers off her legs and bounced out of the room, passing her bewildered looking mother in the hall. She ignored the gaping expression and picked up the extension in the hall. Then she dialed the familiar number and twirled the cord around her finger, chewing on her bottom lip.

It picked up on the third ring. "'Lo?"

"Hey, Charlotte!" Minako nearly shouted, wincing at her own volume. "Sorry. Just woke up."

"Me too," Charlotte grumbled.

"Oh, did I wake you?"

"I just said that, didn't I?" Charlotte snapped. "Sorry, that was rude. I didn't sleep well. You know, with Alan…"

"Yeah, that's why I called. Is he doing all right?"

"Doctors say he's just banged up. He's got a pretty nasty concussion and his ribs are a bit of a mess, but he'll live." She paused, sighing. "And of course he's going to milk this for all it's worth. I'll have to wait on him hand and foot when he gets home."

Minako's eyes sparkled in anticipation of Alan bed-ridden and helpless. "I'll help!"

Charlotte laughed. "Yeah, I bet you would. Listen, I know you're dying to see him, but it's still family only. And I don't think they'll take future wife as family, so please don't ask."

Minako pouted. "Pooh. What am I supposed to do with myself all day? I'd been planning on nursing Alan back to health." In point of fact, this hadn't occurred to her until she said it, but it seemed like such a great idea, she figured she may as well claim it hadn't been spontaneous.

"I think I'm beginning to understand that family only rule."

"Hm?"

"Never mind," Charlotte yawned. "I think I'm going to catch a few more hours sleep and then head down to the hospital. It's funny; you'd think Mum would be frantic since that's how mothers are, but it's Dad who's in a tizzy. He won't leave Alan's bedside, and Mum says she has to stay so that Dad doesn't give himself an ulcer or something. Why don't you give Rebecca and Lucy a call? You can regale them with your heroic tale."

Minako's face paled. "What… what do you mean, heroic?"

"You know, how Alan saved you and all. What do you think I meant?"

"Nothing," Minako said too quickly. "Maybe I will. Have a good sleep, Charlotte. Ring me if you want to do something later."

"Will do. Bye."

A click and then a dial tone, and Charlotte was gone.

Minako frowned and then dropped the receiver back into its cradle, ignoring her mother's loud admonishments to be careful. She promptly sat on the floor, legs crossed, her arm propped on her knee. She drummed her fingers on her chin and considered her options.

Charlotte had a good point. It would be satisfying to tell Lucy and Rebecca all about her escapades the night before. Granted, she'd have to omit all the magic bits and inflate Alan's participation considerably, but she was sure she'd make it terribly exciting and romantic. Maybe if she told the story enough she'd even start to believe it.

Minako sighed, sputtering through her lips. Much as she'd enjoy being at the center of their attention, Minako wasn't really in the mood. Lucy'd want to track the "muggers" down, and Rebecca… well, to be honest, Minako wasn't sure how Rebecca would react.

Maybe she just didn't feel like being around _normal_ people right now.

Shuddering, Minako leapt to her feet and started to head downstairs, running into her mother with the seemingly omnipresent feather duster in her hand.

"You're up early," her mother remarked suspiciously in Japanese.

Minako shrugged and responded in English. "Early night."

Her mother's red eyebrow twitched. "Yes… Did something happen last night?"

Minako had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the absurdity of the question. "No."

"Really? Katarina seemed to want to talk to me about something when she dropped you off…"

"I didn't notice."

"And you went to bed so early…"

"Bad day at school, Mama," Minako said sharply. "Would you stop nagging me?"

The minute she said it, she knew it was a mistake. The second the 'n' word came out, her mother's expression changed to her default setting: righteous indignation. She started screaming at Minako in rapid fire Japanese that was practically incomprehensible even to Minako, a native speaker. The blonde groaned and shoved her fingers in her ears, deciding to forego breakfast and lock herself in her bedroom until she could figure out what to do with her Saturday. She slammed the door with emphasis. Her mother kept screaming.

Minako slumped against her door, banging it lightly against the wood. She definitely couldn't stay in. Her mother was clearly in a lecturing mood. It occurred to Minako that if she just told her parents the less sensational version of what had happened, her mother might back off. But then her mother would hover and her father would be more awkward and try, miserably, to comfort her. She preferred yelling and silence to the alternative.

Minako's stomach growled. She'd thought of fish and chips earlier. That sounded fantastic, although her mother would say it wasn't a proper breakfast. Maybe she'd go out for some and then wander around the shops for awhile.

Minako straightened suddenly, snapping her fingers. "Shops! I'll get a present for Alan! Sort of a get-well-soon-sorry-that-monster-tried-to-kill-you-present." She paused. "Doubt anyone has a card for that."

Imbued now with a sense of purpose and a mission to fulfill, Minako threw herself into the task of getting ready. It took her three tops, four skirts, seven pairs of shoes, and two purses before she found the perfect ensemble. Then she topped it with her trademark red bow, threw open the door, stuck her fingers in her ears one last time, and dashed out the house.

* * *

"One day you'll thank me for telling you about proper attire for a young lady!" Kaida shouted after Minako's retreating form. She deflated at the familiar sound of a door slamming, shaking her head. "That girl…"

Her muttering was interrupted by the sound of the telephone. She grumbled, expecting it was one of Minako's girlfriends calling her with some mindless proposal of how to spend their day. Gearing herself up to lecture the girls in her broken English, Kaida snatched up the headset as if she were grasping an angry cobra by its neck.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Aino?"

Kaida relaxed considerably as she recognized Katarina's voice on the other line. She liked Katarina, and she liked even more that Minako had taken such a liking to her. Katarina was a good girl – smart and hard working. Kaida prayed ever night that some of that initiative would one day rub off on her scatter-brained daughter.

"Katarina-san," Kaida crooned, pleased to be talking to someone who didn't mind the use of honorifics. "Nice to hear from you. Why you call?"

Katarina hesitated. "Well, I was calling to check up on Minako, of course. Is she still in bed?"

"Just missed her," Kaida explained, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "Ran out of here like bat on fire." Something told Kaida she hadn't quite gotten the expression right, but she knew the meaning would get across just as well.

"She did?" Katarina asked, obviously confused. "Odd. I would have thought she'd stay in after last night."

"What happen last night?"

Katarina's voice was flat when she answered a few long moments later. "She didn't tell you."

Kaida suddenly felt ten years older. "Tell me what? She mess around with some boy? That Charlotte girl make her cry?" Kaida shook her head sharply. "Never liked her. Always making ugly comments. She thinks I don't understand. Maybe I don't know exactly what she says, but I know tone."

"Mrs. Aino, I'm afraid it's a bit more serious than that…."

And with that, Katarina told her the story her daughter had refused to speak, and with each passing minute, Kaida felt her world grow smaller and more treacherous.

* * *

Artemis poked his head through the open window, casting his eyes back and forth to make sure Minako wasn't lurking in her room. Granted, he'd heard her thunder away a few seconds before, but considering that everything in his immediate vision looked like it had been caught between two tornadoes doing a rather energetic tango, it took him awhile before he trusted his senses.

Artemis slipped through the small opening, twisting his lithe body around the corner, and then leapt onto the bed. After pawing at the covers for a minute, he retrieved the compact. He was pleased to find that it had recharged – that meant Minako had instinctively left it out in the moonlight. He preened for a minute, pleased that his point had been proven though she was bound to deny it if he ever brought it up to her.

If she let him bring it up to her.

Artemis's whiskers drooped, and he sat down, curling his tail around his legs. He wondered if he ought to have approached Minako differently. Admittedly, he hadn't expected her to be so against the idea. Didn't she feel how… right it was when she was dressed in that garb? He wondered if it was maybe because it wasn't technically the correct attire. Did that somehow make a difference?

He pondered it, but quickly dismissed it. The power was the same even if the outfit was different. Even if he had decided not to activate her purpose as a decoy, Artemis suspected he would have encountered this problem. Minako was just willful, stubborn. These could be useful qualities in a soldier, but in a thirteen-year-old protégée, they would make things difficult.

Shaking his head, Artemis bent down and snatched the compact up in his mouth. It fit awkwardly, and the metal tingled against his tongue, but that was the price of not having opposable thumbs. He started to turn to go, hoping to slip the compact into Minako's purse should she run into trouble.

Just then, the doorknob rattled. In a split second, Artemis had to decide between trying to slip out the window and hiding in the room. In that second, he chose the latter. If Minako was coming back, the last thing either of them needed was for her to catch sight of him. He dove beneath the bed, lying flat on the ground as if he could slip into the fibers of the carpet.

In an instant, he realized it wasn't Minako. The smell was completely different. Sharper, like lemons instead of oranges and sunshine. The distinctly feminine edge led him to decide it must be Minako's mother. Kaida, if he remembered correctly from when he'd hid out there a few days before.

Kaida paused at the door, no doubt staring out at the mess her daughter had left behind with a mixture of disappointment and frustration. She bent down, which made Artemis's hair stand on end, but she only picked up Minako's uniform with surprisingly gently hands. She straightened, ignorant of his presence. She sank down onto the bed, the springs squeaking beneath her weight. Her heard her release a sigh the length of one of his more indulgent stretches.

"Minako…" she whispered, her voice thick with her accent and something else. He sniffed the air again and sensed something deeper than disappointment and irritation – sorrow and fear. He smelled something like the sea and knew she was crying.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kaida hissed in her native tongue. Artemis heard her nails scratch against the starched fabric of Minako's uniform. He pictured her balling it up in her fists. "I understand not telling me about boys you like or the test you failed… but being mugged?"

Artemis's heart sank and he ducked his head, feeling guilty. He told himself it was stupid, told himself it wasn't his fault, but that didn't change the weight in his chest like a cold he couldn't shake.

"Is this how it's going to be now?" Kaida asked herself. "Is this all we'll have? Silence between the screaming?"

Artemis dug his claws into the carpet to prevent himself from going up and settling himself on Kaida's lap. He didn't feel a natural attachment like he did to Minako, but he was grateful to her for bringing Minako into the world, for taking care of her for him. He felt like comforting her would serve as a thank you, but he knew he had no business interfering. Kaida was not his concern.

He listened for awhile longer, but she said nothing else. Soon, all he could hear was the sound of her quiet sobbing. Slowly, cautiously, he poked his head out from under the bed. He saw the woman bent over the uniform, hugging it to her chest as she mourned something she didn't understand. He turned away and silently slipped out of the bedroom through the window.

Minako might not have wanted the responsibility, but he knew that now that a defender bearing the mark of Serenity had appeared, their old enemies would do their best to draw her out. And he knew down to the tip of his tail that they wouldn't have to try very hard.

* * *

Three hours later, Minako walked out of what must have been the thirty-seventh store utterly downtrodden. Thus far, the fish and chips had been the only satisfying part of her day. She'd scoured every shelf for something good to get for Alan, but she'd come up empty. Everything in her price range was too cheesy, and anything that actually looked good was entirely too expensive. She had briefly considered a pair of boxer shorts, but when she'd called Charlotte for a guesstimate of Alan's size, the screaming had caused Minako to go momentarily deaf. Ultimately, she decided it wasn't worth the aggravation.

Minako rode the escalator down to the ground floor of the shopping center. As she disembarked, she found herself reconsidering the teddy bear dressed up like a doctor, hoping Alan might find it charming or funny. She started to walk over to the map to figure out whether the toy store was a right or left turn.

"Stop! Thief!"

Minako, along with the rest of the shopping masses, looked up at the sound of the cry. The first thing Minako saw was an elderly woman off in the distance, shaking her cane in indignation. The next thing was a flash of white-blond hair. But this was only because it was barreling into her at the time.

Minako let out a loud squawk and tumbled to the ground, taking the white-blond blur with her. She hit the ground hard with his added weight and nearly bit her tongue in half to keep from shrieking in pain. She glared up at the runner, fully prepared to give him the chewing out of the century, but she stopped.

In addition to having hair that could only be accurately described as snow spun into a thousand satin strands, the man – no, boy – had eyes eerily similar to a pair of lapis lazuli earrings she had admired earlier that day. He was a Grecian statue come to life with a sharp jaw but otherwise delicate, almost feminine features. She also noted a stained white leather jacket, jeans worn at least one time too many, and the faint ripeness of someone who had not bathed recently. After living in Europe for the past few years, where showering seemed disturbingly optional for a fair section of the population, she found it significant that she could notice.

And aside from all that, he looked familiar. It took her a few moments to place him, but eventually, she could see him in her mind's eye, though they hadn't been nearly so close before. He'd been in the park the other day. Katarina had glared at him when he stared at her for too long.

Oddly enough, the boy seemed to be up for a repeat performance. Despite the old woman screaming and being the thief in question (the puce bag slung over his shoulder was a dead giveaway), he seemed to be in no hurry to leave. Minako glanced over his shoulder and saw a flash of blue streaking towards them. She jerked her thumb in the general direction and said, "Might want to get the lead out."

The boy blinked at her, uncomprehending, and then followed her gesture. He swore something that Minako was willing to bet might make Lucy blush, scrambled off her, and fled. He left the purse behind.

Minako watched him go, shivering, marveling at how she could miss a criminal's body heat.

She clambered to her feet and held the purse out to the advancing officers. She smiled brightly when they congratulated her on stopping the thief and grabbing the purse from him. She saw no reason to mention that actually, she'd just been in the way and the snatcher must have been so dazzled by her beauty that he forgot about the purse entirely. She wasn't sure they would fully appreciate the complexity of the moment. Then the old woman came by to offer her thanks, although Minako didn't think she was all that grateful considering the sour look the bat had given Minako when she'd suggested a reward.

Minako huffed quietly, fluffing her hair. "Honestly, I only asked for a few quid. I might be able to afford something better with a bit more money to my name." She sighed the sigh of the greatly mistreated. "And it's not as if there'll be any more purses to save from silly pale thieves."

Improbably, another shriek echoed all around her. Minako brightened instantly and spun around to see if there were any more liberated handbags she could return to their rightful owners. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation was far more dire.

One of the mannequins in the display window was no longer acting as a mannequin should. That is to say it was moving, laughing, and glaring at the woman who had been admiring the dress it wore. The woman (who had to be something of a tart if she thought that ensemble was at all appropriate) barely had enough time to leap out of the way before the mannequin broke through the glass. After that, it was sheer pandemonium.

Without thinking, Minako broke into a run and ducked into a nearby bookstore. She slipped between the patrons fleeing the store, as everyone else seemed to have gotten the idea to flee the shopping center altogether. Minako thought if she had any sense, she'd follow them.

But something was compelling her to stay put.

Minako shut her eyes and sank into a crouch. She pressed her forehead against the corner of a shelf and hit herself lightly. "Idiot!" she hissed. "This isn't your life! It's not your problem! You told him you didn't want anything to do with it. The police are out there. They can certainly—"

Just then, one of the two policemen she'd talked to went flying past the front of the shop. Minako's head snapped over to where the fight, such as it was, went on. The remaining officer was firing his weapon again and again at close range. Minako knew some of the bullets struck home. He was too close not to miss, even if she could see the weapon shaking in his hand. But none of the bullets had any effect on the monster. It laughed as if the scorching metal tickled rather than burned.

Minako groaned, digging her fingernails into the wood grain. "No, you're the ones who're supposed to deal with this! You signed up for it. It's your job!"

But was that really fair to say? Police officers, and Interpol like Katarina, didn't sign up for demons and ghosts. They were supposed to deal with criminals – people who could be despicable, but who never stopped being human. People could be stopped with bullets. What could stop these things?

She could.

Minako covered her ears as if someone had spoken aloud. "No! I can't. I'm only thirteen! I'm a girl! This isn't supposed to be my life."

"But it is."

Minako opened her eyes, only mildly surprised to find Artemis standing in front of her, the compact resting between his paws. She turned away from him, and her head felt very heavy. "I don't want it."

She heard the sympathy in his voice, and it was the only thing that kept her from lashing out. "I know you don't, Minako. But you don't have a choice."

She shook her head. "I do. I do have a choice."

"Maybe," he murmured, sounding unconvinced. "But the choice is between accepting your destiny, becoming Sailor V, and protecting London… or leaving London to save herself."

Minako raised her gaze once more and looked out at the shopping center, the area that had become a war zone. The monster that was a mannequin hovered over one of the shopping patrons who hadn't been able to get away. Minako couldn't see who it was – only quivering limbs and the faint outline or energy as the monster drank it all. Then, just like Alan, the would-be shopper slipped into unconsciousness. The policemen lay nearby, drained and beaten.

"I don't want it," she repeated fiercely.

She felt Artemis's eyes heavy on her, green and imploring, begging her to do what he was so sure was right. "This is how I see it, Minako," he whispered. "No hero was ever prepared to save anyone. That's what makes them heroes in the first place. They were brave enough to stand up and do the right thing even when they didn't want to. They did what they had to do when all they wanted was to be normal and home and safe."

Minako watched as the monster prowled into the various shops, searching for whatever shoppers hadn't been fast enough or brave enough to try and make a run for it when it had first appeared. She heard a distant, reverberating scream and felt ill.

"I don't want it," she hissed for the last time.

Then she reached forward and snatched the compact. She held it above her head, her fingers straining against the cold metal. She blinked back the wetness that made her eyes burned and let out a battle cry she had never wanted to claim for her own.

"MOON POWER, TRANSFORM!"

* * *

Sailor V burst from the book shop in explosion of red and royal blue. She performed a forward handspring onto the main courtyard and landed perfectly posed for battle. Not that she started off fighting straight away of course. One had to be eased into these things.

"Hold it right there!"

The mannequin-monster – the monnequin perhaps – rotated its head a full 180 degrees so that its face was staring at her with bored curiosity while the remainder of the body stayed facing the opposite direction.

Sailor V paused. "Okay, that's gross." She shook her head sharply. "But! You have committed a grave crime today, disturbing peaceful shoppers on their day off. Your disruption of capitalism will not be tolerated."

She heard Artemis groan from behind her. "What is it with the speeches?"

She kicked a stray piece of debris in his general direction. "I am the Champion of Justice and the Soldier of Love! The Phantom Legend, Sailor V!" She formed what she decided would become her trademark hand signal – a peace sign turned on its side, and brought it to her forehead in a kind of salute. "In the name of all vendors everywhere, I am going to make you sorry for ruining a perfectly good display with your nefarious ways!"

"Nefarious?" Artemis hissed. "What is this, a penny dreadful?"

Sailor V spun around and spat. "You're the one who made me do this. Would you at least let me do it my way?" She huffed and turned back around. "Honestly, give a cat a different throat box, and he thinks he can just boss everyone a-ROUND."

The second syllable of her final word became much louder than the first when Sailor V happened to notice the monster's arm flying directly for her face. She barely managed to drop the ground, avoiding the projectile. She watched it fly overhead and impact a kiosk idling in the middle of the causeway.

It exploded.

Sailor V felt her palms starting to sweat underneath her gloves. In truth, all she wanted to do was curl up in a tiny ball or be sick all over the filthy ground. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat, looked over her shoulder, and arched one eyebrow.

"Rude much?"

The demon snarled and Sailor V watched in horror as the arm that had just decimated the sunglasses stand flickered back into existence. Then the monster promptly fired it again.

She gaped and shot up to her knees. "Not fair!" She leaned back so that her back was flush with the ground and her knees jutted forward. The arm – which whistled exactly like a missile – soared above her head, singing the edges of her hair but doing no further damage. She straightened to the sound of something else exploding behind her. "That's like changing your mind about moving your checkers piece after you've taken your hand off."

"My hand's off," the monnequin growled even as the arm once again rematerialized. "But it's back on now."

She fired off her appendage as if shooting a weapon. Sailor V threw herself to the side, barrel rolling out of the way. Then she somersaulted forward three times to avoid another shot, then cart-wheeled to safety, and finally rushed forward, leaping up and out of the way of yet another blast.

Sailor V propelled her body towards the monster instead of away, straightening her right leg on impulse. And because she didn't feel the moment possessed the proper dramatic effect, she decided to add an attack phrase.

"SAILOR V KICK!"

To her surprise and delight, the kick hit home. It connected right into the monster's chest, slamming it backwards. Sailor V landed lightly as the mannequin shot away from her, and she couldn't help but swivel her hips in a tiny dance of victory when it hit a brick wall. She puffed her chest out and said, "Guess I'm getting the hang of this."

By 'this,' apparently Sailor V referred to her ability to infuriate monsters. Because when this one stood up, she swore that its flesh-colored plastic had flushed pink. It grabbed its right elbow with its opposite hand and took deadly aim.

"Uh-oh."

Sailor V immediately turned tail and ran, but the monster was firing off rounds in quick succession. Finally, one struck the ground close enough to have an effect. It was her turn to go flying, turning end over end in the air. Then she hit the floor hard, chin first. She somersaulted again, but this time she didn't intend to. She came to a stop when she hit the remains of the sunglasses stand, and the room spun. She wanted to clutch her head, but she couldn't tell where that might be.

A small, furry face filled her vision and whiskers tickled the bruise on her cheek. "Come on, Sailor V. Pull yourself together! You've gotta get up!"

She tried to glare at him, but considering there were currently three Artemises, she couldn't tell if she'd picked the right one. "Be quiet. London's savior has a headache."

Artemis then had the gall to reach forward and hit her on the nose with his front paw. "If you don't get up, you'll die!"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Artemis. That's precisely what you want to say to the girl who was crying in the bookshop because she didn't want to do this ten minutes ago. You know, you really need to work on your motivational skills." She took a deep breath and rolled over to see if the youma was preparing once again to attempt to kill her with one of her bomb-arms.

Sailor V couldn't help but drop her jaw when she saw what was actually going on. She knew other people were still left in the building, but she had no idea that the purse snatcher of all people had stayed behind. More surprising yet, he seemed to fancy himself a hero when he wasn't stealing from old ladies. He'd stripped off his jacket, wrapped it around his left hand, and picked up one of the more wicked looking pieces of glass from the display case the monster had come out of. He held it out straight in front of him, occasionally leaping towards the monster's throat and then dancing out of reach.

"Come on!" he shouted in what Sailor V swore was a thick Japanese accent. "Come and get it, bitch!"

Sailor V shook her head, hoping that this would help her see and hear straight, but it felt more like she'd jostled her brain even more severely. She groaned, squeezing her temples with the heels of her hands. "No… He can't. He'll get himself killed."

"This is what I was telling you," Artemis said. He sounded as if he was giving a eulogy, and the boy was still breathing. "If London doesn't have a hero – a real hero like you – then other people will find the courage to stand up. Other people will do what you won't, and they'll get hurt. They'll die without you."

Sailor V curled her hands into fists, pulling some of her hair loose from its bow. "No. No, that's not right."

"It's reality."

She stared forward at the boy thief and the plastic demon. She knew in her heart that one of them would not be leaving this place alive. It was up to her to decide which one.

She gritted her teeth and forced her vision to come into focus. Then she glanced down at Artemis. "I've already made my decision."

Sailor V staggered to her feet, momentarily stumbling and almost falling again. Then she drew her compact out and flipped it open. She took aim and whispered, "I won't let you hurt them."

The golden light burst from the mirror like an avenging angel streaking across the sky. It streaked forth and never once waivered from its course. Just as Sailor V would have feared the boy might have found himself in over his head, the crescent beam hit home. It caught the monster in the stomach and pushed it back into the opposite wall, craving an imprint into the brickwork. It let out an unearthly howl that seemed the shake the building's foundations. The boy dropped his makeshift knife immediately to cover his ears. Then the boy, Artemis, and Sailor V watched as the demon writhed against the wall until it disintegrated. Then it fell to the ground, a harmless pile of dust.

Sailor V exhaled sharply, her chest aching from accidentally holding her breath. Her outstretched arm dropped and she rested her palms against her knees, seriously contemplating simply crumpling to the ground and grabbing a quick kip before racing off. But she suspected it would be rude to pass out or leave without at least thanking the boy who had tried to help her. Besides, without his jacket she could see he had very nice arms, and she was a sucker for a nice pair of biceps.

She started to walk to him when she saw numerous patrons tentatively making their way out of the shops they had taken refuge in. They stared at her openly as if she were an exhibit in a zoo. She would have pointed out that this was rude, but she was in a mini-skirt and she did have very nice legs, so they couldn't be blamed entirely for their admiration.

That's when the applause started.

It began as the traditional slow clap in the sports movies her father occasionally made her watch. Then one by one people joined in as more people that she would have anticipated emerged from the other stores. Gradually, the applause grew louder and faster and more enthusiastic, until she was being hooted and whistled at in a decidedly un-British manner.

It took her a moment to realize her cheeks were hurting from her smile.

She reached down and scooped Artemis into her arms, ignoring his protesting yowl. Then she crouched down and leapt on top of the bookshop and waved for them to quiet down for a moment. She smiled down at them all – the policemen who were waking, the men and women who had hidden, and especially the boy who had tried to save her (although she noticed he had not been clapping). Then she took a deep breath and addressed her public.

"Citizens of London, have no fear!"

"Oh, for God's sake," Artemis muttered, wishing he was deaf.

She reached down and surreptitiously yanked his tail. "That monster you saw wasn't the first to be seen in London, and I don't think it will be the last. But you're not alone! You have me now, the masked warrior in a sailor suit, Sailor V, and I'll protect you." She flashed another peace sign, and shouted, "Sailor V is for victory!"

Many people in the crowd made the same gesture and the applause started again. She remained for just a moment, deciding to offer them a traditional curtsey (she had practiced of course on the off-chance she ever had an audience with Queen Elizabeth) and then jetted off into the night.

But not before blowing her would-be savior a quick kiss of course.

* * *

Kunzite felt the urge to strangle someone. Part of him was in the mood to strangle that mannequin youma, but considering that it had been taken care of, that was no longer an option. It left him wanting nothing more than to wrap his hands around that little blonde's throat and squeeze until bones snapped.

Zoisite appeared at his side like a forlorn puppy. "She lived, huh?"

Kunzite just growled.

Zoisite's razor sharp chin pressed into his shoulder. It ached like a pinprick. "And to think, it was the first one you sent out… Almost like she knew where you'd be."

Kunzite tensed at that thought. Sailor V was troublesome enough with her mysterious origins and the mark upon her brow. The last thing he needed was for her to be clairvoyant as well. He narrowed his eyes and quickly worked out another hypothesis. "Perhaps it was I who somehow sensed her presence. Perhaps part of me can seek her out without knowing it." He paused. "Or perhaps we got extremely unlucky."

"Didn't you want to see her in action?"

"Yes," Kunzite admitted. "But I wouldn't have minded collecting some energy in the interim. She arrived before any of it could be transported to Metallia."

Zoisite rubbed his cheek against the spot his chin had once occupied as if soothing away the pain. "There's always a next time."

"Yes," Kunzite agreed, though he lacked Zoisite's optimistic tone. "Always another chance for the blood to run."

Then they vanished and returned the Dark Kindgom, slinking back to the shadows, where they could once again plan to bring a black scourge and reclaim what had once been theirs. They would defeat Sailor V, they would gather the energy, and they would reawaken Metallia. Then they would have what they had once lost and revel in taking it back.

Then they would have the Earth, and they would bleed it dry.

* * *

Minako – now in her civilian form once again – sank to the ground in the damp alley, gasping for breath. Artemis clambered out of her arms, shaking out his coat as if he had been dealt some great injustice by being carried all the way.

It seemed ridiculous, but Minako could resist the urge to laugh. She pushed her hands into her bangs and wheezed, "This might be some weird adrenaline rush. I can't… Oh, I'm shaking. Of course I'm shaking. I almost got blown up. But I feel great!"

Artemis chuckled indulgently. "See? It's not all bad."

"The almost getting blown up part is bad."

"I cannot argue with you there."

"But after!" She squealed quietly and pounded her feet on the ground. "They loved me! You didn't tell me they'd love me."

He tilted his head to the side. "People tend to be thankful when they don't get blown up. Didn't you think this might happen?"

She shrugged. "I entertained the possibility of a cult following, an urban legend. I didn't expect… _applause_."

"Well, at least you're getting something out of it then," Artemis said, although she couldn't miss the faint note of disappointment.

Minako ruffled his ears. "Relax, fuzzy. It's a fringe benefit. I… I thought I could walk away and forget about it, but it isn't that simple. You were right. If it isn't me, then it'll be someone else, and they can't do what I do. I can't let innocent people get hurt."

Artemis looked up at her with shining eyes, as if she'd just claimed to have found the location of the Holy Grail. "Minako, I… I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear you say that."

She snorted. "What, are you getting sentimental on me? I thought cats were supposed to be aloof."

"Most cats aren't entrusting the fate of the world to a 13-year-old."

"True," she agreed. "Do you know, I can't stop smiling?"

"I had noticed that."

"I really like applause."

"Shocking."

"And I didn't even have to memorize lines this time! I hate that… I usually just make up my own words, but the directors always get their knickers in a twist when I do that. I don't see why. My dialogue's always much better."

Artemis's whiskers twitched. "About that… are the speeches really—"

"I have a system. You can't muck it up now."

Minako hadn't ever seen a cat pout before. Probably because it was quite possibly the most pathetic thing she had ever seen, and most cats had more pride than this one. "But I don't like your system."

"Well, that's your problem, isn't it?"

"Your system involves announcing when you're going to kick someone!"

"It worked!"

"This time. What about next time?"

"I'll announce when I punch them next time." She paused, tapping her forefinger on her chin and then wincing when she hit the sore spot. "But you know, Sailor V Punch doesn't have the same ring to it."

Artemis's tail drooped. "I don't like where this is going."

"What do you think about Sailor V Rolling Screw Punch? I think that's much more appropriate."

Now Artemis just drooped all over. "You know, they always ask for God to save the Queen. I think he'd better look to everyone else what with you being their only hope."

Minako flicked his ear. "You are a cruel little fuzzy, and I do not know why you hurt me in this way." She bounded to her feet at once and worked out the kinks in her back. "Well, guess we'd better be getting home. I didn't get anything for Alan, but I'd better get home so Mama can ground me. She has so few joys in her life. I can't deprive her of punishing me for too long or she starts wilting."

Artemis looked down, curling his tail around his legs. "Minako, about your mother…"

"Hm? What about her?"

For a moment, Minako thought something significant was about to happen. She felt sorely tempted to tell Artemis to keep it to himself. She felt like she'd had enough excitement for one day, and even she didn't feel up to taking any more. Thankfully all he did was give her a soft smile. "Never mind. I was just going to ask if she ever mellows out."

"Sometimes," Minako sighed. "When Daddy lets her have the wine all to herself anyway." She bent down and picked Artemis up again. "Home we go!"

Artemis laid his ears flat to his head. "I am not a baby. I can walk."

"But this is more fun! You know, for me."

"And of course that is all I am concerned with. You having a good time."

She grinned at him so widely her jaw nearly cracked. "And to think I wanted to drop kick you before."

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES

I cannot believe I haven't updated this fic since 2007. -___-;; Suffice it to say, I planned on updating this in 2008 – I'm pretty sure some of this was written in 2008 – but that was just a horrible year for me creatively. Everything pretty much went to pot. It is truly depressing.

But, I have graduated college, and it doesn't look like there's going to be a lot going on in my life! So I'm hoping to get a lot of stuff done in ficland before I have to buckle down in Grad School Land.

And for those wondering, yes, the mannequin is an homage to _Doctor Who_. xD

Thanks to those of you who have actually stuck with this fic! I will do my best to try and update on a semi-regular basis. And of course, big thanks to my lovely beta and Brit-picker Starsea, who when she is not helping me, writing the fantabulous story called Exiles, which all of you need to read immediately!

Coming Soon – Chapter Four: The Secrets We Dare Not Confess


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